In the months since President Bush released his fiscal year 2003 budget calling for a 5% increase in the National Science Foundation budget while simultaneously proposing a 17% increase for the National Institutes of Health, many budget watchers in both Congress and the scientific community have been grumbling. The call for a “more balanced portfolio” between life sciences and basic research has become almost a mantra on Capitol Hill. NSF Director Rita Colwell has repeatedly found herself facing skeptical congressional questioners who note that, because of program money being transferred to NSF from other agencies, her budget request is closer to 3%, or about the rate of inflation.
In response to the increasing pressure to “fix” the NSF budget, several members of the House Science Committee, including Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), introduced a bill in early May that would double the NSF budget within five years, beginning with a...
