73 



Quite frankly, I plead guilty. I would like to be a bigger spender, 

 because I think we have got to establish some realistic priorities, 

 and I am concerned when you have to zero-out the Facilities ac- 

 count. I am concerned about the inadequacy of funding for instru- 

 mentation. 



I am concerned, for example, as I look at this budget presen- 

 tation to see that the Supercomputer Centers account is not doing 

 particularly well, all things considered. As I view it, its projected 

 growth really is about 2 percent. 



Then we hear the possibility that we are going from four mag- 

 nificent centers that make us preeminent in the world to the possi- 

 bility of only two centers. 



Can you address that subject, please? 



Dr. Lane. Mr. Boehlert, I thank you for your comments about 

 our efforts to do more to emphasize the importance of integration 

 of research and education. We feel very strongly about it. We put 

 it down as one of our four core strategies in the strategic plan. 



It largely describes our priorities in this budget. As I indicated 

 earlier, those priorities reflect our priorities for the next several 

 years. 



We appreciate your strong encouragement through the years for 

 us to look harder at how our programs can, in fact, help the univer- 

 sities make the changes that are needed. 



On the issue of the budget for the Supercomputer Centers and 

 the change in the program, the budget reflects tough times and 

 hard decisions. We realize that there are risks involved in all of 

 these things. 



We know that there are outstanding people working in this area, 

 and we are confident that the new program will be an exciting pro- 

 gram and that we will be able to move seamlessly from the current 

 one to the new one with the budget that is provided. 



But there is not a lot of room in there. 



What do I think about this? 



I believe that, were our budget situation better, a more conserv- 

 ative approach perhaps would have been to stay with the original 

 program and extend from there at least for some period of time in 

 the future, because it has been an outstanding success story. 



It has revolutionized the way science is done, the way scientists 

 interact with one another and, unexpectedly, through the develop- 

 ment of the NSF Net and the Internet, the way everybody interacts 

 not only in this country but around the world. 



We are very proud of our involvement and our role in that part- 

 nership with other agencies and institutions. We think it has been 

 extraordinarily successful. 



The centers themselves have played a key role. The development 

 of Mosiac at the Illinois Center by students really led to — really 

 gave us the trick in being able to handle the Internet where all this 

 complex information is available and is hard to find. 



So we believe it is a tremendous success story. 



There have been changes, however, through the years. New tech- 

 nologies have come along. Many, many other kinds of centers have 

 developed around the country that have unique capabilities that we 

 feel we can take advantage of for the scientists and engineers, re- 

 searchers and educators. 



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