Chairwoman Johnson Testifies Before House Budget Committee on FY 2020 Budget
(Washington, DC) – Yesterday, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) joined with several Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in testifying before the House Budget Committee on the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget.
Chairwoman Johnson’s prepared statement is below.
Good morning. Since submission of the President’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request has been delayed, it is obviously not possible to comment on its impact on the nation’s research and innovation enterprise. However, if the Trump Administration’s past budget submissions are any guide—and I fear they are—this year’s request will continue the trend of devaluing the important role that Federal investments in R&D play in advancing our economy, preparing our workforce for the jobs of the 21st century, and maintaining our national security.
In the President’s FY 2019 budget request we witnessed a troubling disregard for science as massive cuts were made to vital research and development (R&D) project funding. Unfortunately, we again expect to see more proposed cuts in crucial funding areas like R&D, innovation, education, and technology in the FY 2020 request.
As a result, my highest priority request to the Budget Committee, as it works to craft its Budget Resolution, is that you reject further cuts to civilian R&D and science and technology programs, and indeed I would hope that you would increase our Federal R&D investments in these programs. The Federal investments are vital to our scientific enterprise, and further cutbacks would put our nation’s global competitiveness in jeopardy. We need to invest in our research agencies: NASA, NOAA, NSF, NIST, DOE, EPA and others that enhance America’s economic strength, address our national priorities, advance knowledge, and inspire our youth.
The Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s budgetary priorities are laid out in more detail in the Views & Estimates that we will be submitting to the Budget Committee later this week. In view of the time constraints, I will just mention a few of them here today.
First, the Department of Energy (DOE) funds a wide range of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application (RDD&CA) activities. Given the President’s repeated promises to revitalize American infrastructure, and the need to transition to a clean energy economy, we believe strong investments across DOE’s energy RDD&CA activities should be a top priority.
Second, though a few will point to the successes of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in protecting public health and the environment over the past 40 years as a reason to stop pushing for stricter limits on pollution, it is important to note that these protections must be sustained with robust funding for the Agency. Maintaining clean air and water, and protecting our most vulnerable populations from environmental contaminants, is a continuing endeavor. We should be investing more in EPA, not less.
With respect to climate change, though our understanding of the physical drivers of climate change has improved, there is a clear need for continued sustained funding for research at agencies such as NOAA and NASA that which will help inform robust solutions to one of our nation’s greatest challenges.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has long been recognized as the world leader in aeronautics and space research and exploration. We support robust funding that will allow NASA to maintain a balanced and healthy portfolio of programs in aeronautics, Earth and space science, technology development, and human spaceflight and exploration, as well as allowing investments in the infrastructure that will be required if NASA is to carry out the tasks our nation has given it.
We encourage the Budget Committee to maintain robust funding for NOAA across all line offices, especially for environmental data collection and scientific research needs to ensure the agency can continue to meet its critical mission. It is also imperative that funding for the next generation of NOAA’s weather satellites be maintained to ensure that those satellite programs remain on track for successful development and launch.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is the only federal agency to support basic research across all fields of science and engineering. At a time of increasing global competition and national urgency in critical research areas like quantum science, artificial intelligence, the future of work, and climate change, NSF should be funded at levels that allow it to support the cutting edge research that makes the U.S. the global leader in innovation.
NIST is one of the most important but underappreciated agencies in our government. The work NIST does with its relatively modest budget yields incalculable benefits to the competitiveness of U.S. industry across all sectors, while also protecting the security, privacy, safety, and wellbeing of all Americans. NIST is worthy of additional support in the Budget Resolution.
Finally, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate is responsible for providing the research and technology capabilities for the operational components of the Department. For fiscal year 2020, we urge the Budget Committee to provide the level of funding necessary to fully support the work of the S&T Directorate.
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