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House, Senate to Labor over Defense Budget Bill

Monday, October 10, 2005

Senate Version Adds $40M for University R&D, Scholarships

With the threat of a presidential veto looming, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed its version of the 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Bill on Oct. 7 at a total level $7 billion below the Administration's request. Of particular note for the tech-based economic development community was the Senate's floor passage of an amendment to provide an additional $40 million for research and scholarships.

Overall, House Resolution 2863 provides $390 billion for DoD programs and includes $7 billion less than the president's FY 2006 budget request, the Association of American Universities reports.

Co-sponsored by senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and nine other Democrats and Republicans, the amendment provides increases of $10 million for each of Army and Air Force University Research Initiatives over the level approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Navy would receive an extra $5 million for a similar program. The SMART National Defense Education Program, an initiative piloted in 2004 and proposed by the administration to be made permanent in 2006, would total $20 million with the additional $10 million appropriated via the amendment. The DARPA University Research Program in Cybersecurity would receive an additional $5 million.

Touting the amendment, Sen. Kennedy recommended that DoD allocate 15 percent of its total available funds to science and technology each year, beginning in FY 2006. This level, according to the American Institute of Physics, would be $447 million more than last year's figure of 11.6 percent.

HR 2863 moves to a conference committee for discussion by members of both the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, as passed by the House, does not include the amendment. AAU states that the president has said he will veto the Senate version of the bill.

The bill is available in full through Thomas Locator at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.02863: