Rudenstine goes to bat in Washington to save funding

President Neil L. Rudenstine traveled in person last week to Capitol Hill and the White House in an attempt to save government funding to federal research agencies that sponsor university work.

On Rudenstine's agenda was a meeting with six other university presidents and members of the White House staff. He also had a lunch meeting with members of Congress.

A compromise budget bill currently before Congress--which promises less tax cuts than a sweeping Republican measure vetoed recently by President Clinton--still would slash funding for research work in both the sciences and the humanities.

Rudenstine and the other presidents are lobbying against these proposed cuts and pushing instead for an increase in research funding--to come out of the projected budget surplus.

Harvard's government funding comes mainly from federal agencies like

the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The proposed cuts are part of a budget plan drafted by House and Senate leaders. That plan has already been approved by the House, meaning reductions in funding to all science agencies but the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Senate is currently debating the measure, and is expected to vote on it today.

Five years ago Harvard and a few other universities formed the National Science Coalition to lobby Congress for greater support for university research. Now the science coalition has teamed up with the National Business Coalition for Federal Research, an organization of 32 chambers of commerce which was recently founded to stress the economic benefits of research funding.

Not just biology

Science funding does not carry the "obvious immediacy" that issues like defense and welfare do, and consequently is sometimes put off by government officials, Rudenstine said.

Last year Harvard received about $305 million from federal agencies and about $97,000 from non-governmental foundations--both representing increases from the year before.

And while cuts are feared in all areas, universities say they're most concerned about budget reductions in physical science research.

"In a lot of cases science funding is absolutely essential to making progress on scholarly ideas," said University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67. "Whereas in the humanities sometimes at least the work can be carried out on some level with more modest support."

Rudenstine said there is a push in the federal government to give more funding to agencies like NIH that work in the biological sciences and less to NSF, NASA and DoD that sponsor research in the physical sciences.

"We really can't starve the physical science, the applied sciences we need for a broad-based investment," Rudenstine said.

Harvard's Director of Federal and State Relations Kevin Casey said that Harvard's lobbyists have been emphasizing the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to science.

"Our main message is that the Congress recognize that a healthy science policy requires a broad-based portfolio," Casey said. "There seems to be broad support for health research, and members of Congress tend to think NIH takes care of that."

But, Casey said, "biological research is not the only thing you need."

This was the main topic on the agenda last Wednesday in Washington.

Seven university presidents, including Rudenstine, met with administrators from the White House, like Clinton policy aide Gene Sperling and Chief of Staff John Podesta, to encourage them to be more generous in the funds allocated for science--especially physical sciences.

'They were concerned. They're pro," Rudenstine said. "We were not having to make the fundamental arguments."

Later in the day a group of students, faculty and university presidents mingled with members of Congress on Capitol Hill to try to impart a personal importance to the funding issue.

The Economic Impact

James F. Klocke, the director of government affairs for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and his colleagues use Route 128 to illustrate the importance of research.

Route 128 connects various technology centers around edge of the Boston metropolitan area.

"Other cities around the country want to see this happen," Klocke said. "Cutting edge technology is the best way to grow your company."

Massachusetts receives $4 billion each year from government agencies for university research.

"We think the funding should grow faster than inflation," Klocke said. He is pushing for a five to seven percent increase for the next fiscal year.

The competition for funds is fierce, Klocke said, because the amount of money that Congress has to play with is small despite the large surplus.

"They're trying to put 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound bag," he said.

Still, Klocke says, "I think we have a good shot at protecting these accounts. Nearly everybody understands the importance of research to economic growth."