We are a leader in so many fields because we had an economic 

 climate and a legal and financial system which fostered and nour- 

 ished innovation and private enterprise. 



If used well by policy-makers in both the Legislative and Execu- 

 tive branches, the Press report will be a good tool for evaluating 

 science policy. 



I want this report used as a starting point for the discussions we 

 will have over the coming months. 



And I'm going to recognize the Ranking Minority Member for an 

 opening statement, and then turn to Dr. Press and his colleagues 

 for testimony. 



Mr. Brown? 



Mr. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I'm pleased to join you in welcoming this distinguished panel this 

 morning. The subject of the Academy's report addresses the domi- 

 nant science policy question of today — how to allocate scarce fed- 

 eral resources for science and technology to produce the greatest 

 public benefit. 



The report recommends that a more coherent approach be taken 

 in developing the overall federal R&D budget and tasks both the 

 Executive and Legislative branches of government to institute pro- 

 cedures that will allow trade-off to be made among the activities 

 in the core research portion of that budget. 



The Academy committee which worked on the report is to be con- 

 gratulated for their efforts to articulate systematic procedures for 

 arriving at R&D budget priorities. I certainly agree on the need to 

 do this and have spent much time myself trying to discover and 

 promote mechanisms to achieve this desirable but elusive goal. 



I also agree with many of the salient points made in the report — 

 the value of rigorous, merit-based procedures for selecting R&D 

 awards through a competitive process, the need for careful review 

 of all research projects by outside experts, the importance of pursu- 

 ing international cooperation in R&D, particularly in big science, 

 and the benefits which have come from maintaining R&D activities 

 within the mission agencies. 



But as praiseworthy as it may be, I must say I am disappointed 

 that the report does not address what level of resources will be 

 needed to ensure the sustenance of a vigorous R&D enterprise in 

 the nation. 



One of the recommendations in the report is for the U.S. to be 

 pre-eminent or world-class in all major fields of science and tech- 

 nology. Will current proposals for shrinking R&D budgets over the 

 next several years, with some proposals calling for cuts of one-third 

 in the civilian R&D budget, allow this recommendation to be 

 achieved? 



The report is silent on this point. 



I understand that the Academy committee which authored the 

 report was attempting to establish a process to allow for the most 

 optimum allocation of whatever resources were made available for 

 R&D. But there comes a point when the overall enterprise is at 

 risk and cannot be saved by the resource allocation process. 



I agree with the remarks made by Neal Lane, the NSF director 

 at the recent meeting of the AAAS in Baltimore, and I quote: 



