CALL FOR ACTION
Senators Collins and Kennedy are sponsoring an amendment to the Senate FY06 Defense Authorization Bill. We would request that you contact your Senators and ask them to COSPONSOR or SUPPORT the Amendment when it reaches the floor.
WHAT THE AMENDMENT DOES
The Kennedy-Collins SMART amendment's goal is to ensure that our national defense forces remain globally competitive by building the corps of civilian scientists and engineers at the Department of Defense and increasing funding for research and development efforts that help create new science to ensure our military remains the best in the world. The amendment doubles funding ($10 million) for the existing Department of Defense SMART Scholars program and increases funding for basic research by $40 million.
Specifically, the Amendment:
* Increases the Army University Research Initiatives (URI) account by $10 million
* Increases the Navy University Research Initiatives (URI) account by $10 million
* Increases the Air Force University Research Initiatives (URI) account by $10 million
* Increases the DARPA account by $10 million and specifies that money should be spent on fundamental research in computer science and cybersecurity
* Increases the SMART National Defense Education Program by $10 million
* The Amendment also includes a Sense of the Senate that the Department of Defense set a goal to invest 15% of its science and technology budget in basic research programs. We are currently hovering around 11-12%
WHAT IS THE OFFSET (Because you know people will ask)
Fully Offset by a Reduction in Defense-Wide Operations and Maintenance Fund for Information Technology. Reduces Defense-wide operations and maintenance fund executed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Defense-wide administrative fund does not cover operations and maintenance of Army, Navy, or Air Force programs. The fund finances the Secretary's business management budget, which the Committee-reported bill increases by over $2 billion, despite a Government Accountability Office finding that the agency's approach to business and financial management transformation is a "high-risk" area.
Posted by Jason Van Wey at July 21, 2005 12:11 PM | TrackBack