When he sat before the House Committee on Science and Technology in mid-February to detail the administration's proposed fiscal year 2008 federal research budget, John Marburger, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, opened with the same statement of priorities he has used for the past five years: “Winning the war on terror, securing the homeland, and strengthening the economy remain the president's top priorities.”
With the US entering the fifth year of war in Iraq and the Democratic Congress engaged in a showdown with the president over the $100 billion supplemental funding authorization for the war, the context for the FY 2008 budget in research and development is that nondefense money is tight, and for every winner, there will be a loser.
”Making choices is difficult, even when budgets are generous, but tight budgets require priorities to be focused and program management to be strengthened,” Marburger concluded...
