Lobbyists Counterattack In R&D Budget FightLobbyists Counterattack In R&D Budget Fight

WASHINGTON — A growing chorus of lobbyists are decrying proposed cuts in federal funding for research and development, warning that the U.S. will cede dominance in areas ranging from aerospace to chip manufacturing unless funding is restored in the fiscal 2006 budget.

Proposed cuts in federal R&D funding for government agencies such as the National Science Foundation, NASA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were proposed by the Bush administration in response to record budget deficits.

Lawmakers like Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee, have expressed concerns about proposed cuts. But congressional budget committees may have the upper hand in this year's budget debate, oberservers here said.

The latest interest group to weigh in on the proposed R&D cuts is the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA, Arlington, Va.). The group cited a recent report by the National Institute of Aerospace warning that U.S. cuts in aviation R&D would concede dominance in aerospace technology to Europe.

"This report is a wake-up call that the warnings we have been sounding are not just talk," AIA President John Douglass said in a statement. "Congress should heed the conclusions in this report and consider that their constituents are in danger of losing their jobs, if not their security."

The group's dire warnings about proposed NASA budget cuts echo other interest groups seeking to stave off cuts at NIST, NSF and Energy Department agencies that sponsor research on alternative energy sources.

The war in Iraq has also put pressure on the Defense Department's substantial R&D budget. The Defense Advanced Research Agency faces continuing budgets as R&D funding is shifted to the war effort and military planners stress applied over basic research.