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March 08, 2007

Members Explore Priorities of FY08 Homeland Security R&D Budget

(Washington, DC) The Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation of the House Committee on Science and Technology today examined the Administration’s FY08 budget request for research and development at the Department of Homeland Security.  The Committee has jurisdiction over the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Domestic Nuclear Protection Office (DNDO). 

Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) thanked the Undersecretary for Science and Technology for his dedication to increasing the investment in basic research, but raised concern about cuts in funding for University Centers of Excellence. He also expressed concern that some research priorities have no strategic plan or risk assessment upon which they are based.  He urged the agency to have a detailed, scientific risk assessment performed soon.

“We can fund billions of dollars in research, but if we don’t pay attention to the risks we should be addressing, we won’t have the answers we need when we need them,” Wu said. “We can base research on anecdotal impressions of need, but that is not the scientific approach the American people have a right to expect.”

The requested budget for the S&T Directorate is $799.1 million, a 9.5 percent decrease from the 2007 enacted funding level. The President’s proposed budget increases funding for the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) by 17 percent, to $569.1 million.

“It is critically important we fund the defense organizations tapping into the limitless creativity of our nation’s scientists and engineers,” said Ranking Member Phil Gingrey (R-GA).  “The development of innovative technology is one reason America’s defense system is the envy of the world, and we need to ensure we’re properly funding these priorities.  Today, we successfully examined not only how to allocate these funds, but also how to prioritize the various threats facing our nation and what type of research will best prepare us to combat them.”

The S&T Directorate helps coordinate all federal homeland security related research, and carries out R&D projects in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s many functions, including transportation security, border protection, and biological defense. The DNDO coordinates research, development and operations of technology designed to detect and report unauthorized transportation of nuclear and radiological materials.

Wu commended Undersecretary for Science and Technology Jay Cohen, a witness at this morning’s hearing, for his commitment to improving the management structure of the Directorate. He also expressed his appreciation for the DNDO’s support of transformation research to develop new technologies, and hopes he will see the two offices working together.

But, he noted that he is concerned with the lack of balance between basic and applied research and development in the budget proposal. DHS dedicates 52 percent of its R&D funding to short-term development, while allocating only 11 percent to applied research and 13 percent to basic research. Emphasizing short-term research could weaken the Department’s ability to move quickly in response to unexpected threats, Subcommittee Members said.

Members also questioned whether the Directorate’s research priorities are meeting the needs of state and local governments, some of which have complained the agency is not responsive to their technology development requests and recommendations.

“When the Science Committee helped write legislation authorizing the R&D programs at DHS, we envisioned an organization that would support the science and technology needs of people on the front lines of domestic security,” Wu said. “Frankly, it’s been a rough start.”

Wu recognized the management problems at DHS have caused a lack of focus on R&D priorities, but said he hopes to see the agency take steps to be sure it is on the right track in making the nation safer from catastrophes, whether from human or natural causes.

The Science & Technology Committee has jurisdiction over all civilian research and development programs of the federal government.

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