66 



STATEMENT OF JAMES D. SAVAGE 



TO THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 



SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS AND NUTRITION, 



MARCH 25, 1993 



Mr. Chairman, my name is James D. Savage, and I am Associate Chair 

 and Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Foreign 

 Affairs at the University of Virginia. Thank you for inviting me 

 to share with your subcommittee my thoughts on the issue of 

 employing direct appropriations, or earmarks, for funding 

 university-conducted agricultural research. 



In 1992 I served as a consultant for the Congressional Research 

 Service, for «rhom I analyzed the trends in earmarks for 

 universities and colleges during the fiscal years 1980 through 

 1992. First let me say that an earmark, by Office of Technology 

 Assessment definition, refers to "a project, facility, instrument, 

 or other academic or research-related expense that is directly 

 funded by Congress, which has not been subjected to peer review and 

 will not be competitively awarded." Using this definition as a 

 guide, my data indicate that during FY 1980-1992, approximately 

 $2.5 billion were earmarked for some 234 vtniversities and colleges. 

 The trend in earmarking during these years clearly is one of rapid 

 gro%rth, as sho%m in the Table 1 (page 8). In FY 1991, for example, 

 $470 million In research funds were earmarked, and that amount grew 

 in FY 1992 to $708 million. 



Of this total figure of $2.5 billion , approximately $625 million. 



