U.S. Research Budget for Homeland Security Shrinks, but Defense Earmarks Survive
By JEFFREY BRAINARD and KELLY FIELD
The Chronicle of Higher Education
October 13, 2006
Members of Congress have pledged that this year they will finally reform the controversial practice of "earmarking," the setting aside of noncompetitive grants by lawmakers for colleges and other constituents.
But judging from the first appropriations bill to clear Congress this year — to finance the Defense Department in 2007 — it is business as usual, at least regarding earmarks for academe.
Congress approved the bill late last month along with a separate spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, in which lawmakers cut spending for the Office of University Programs by nearly 20 percent, to $50-million from $62-million. Lawmakers gave no reason but made it clear that they were unhappy with how the department has managed its research portfolio.
President Bush signed both measures.
In the defense bill, the number and value of earmarks provided in several Pentagon accounts that primarily support university research would remain unchanged in the 2007 fiscal year, which began October 1, compared with 2006, according to a Chronicle analysis.
Within an overall total of $377.6-billion to run the huge department, the bill (HR 5631) contains a total of $1.55-billion to finance fundamental or basic research, an increase of nearly 6 percent over this year. Typically, about 60 percent of that money goes to universities.
Of the total for Pentagon basic research, the bill sets aside $176-million, or 11 percent, for 88 earmarks. Those figures are down only slightly from this year's level of 90 earmarks, worth $181-million. A similar parity was seen in the two years' earmarks within the Army's medical-research programs, another major source of pork for academe.
Earmark Recipients Unnamed
It is difficult to determine exactly how many of the earmarks will flow to universities because none of the Pentagon earmarks identify a university recipient. However, Chronicle analyses of previous years' appropriations show that the Defense Department got more funds earmarked for academe than any other federal agency.
Congress typically considers up to 11 appropriations bills to finance the various departments of the federal government each year, and most of those bills contain academic earmarks. The majority of those bills for 2007 are not expected to be completed until November, when lawmakers will convene in a lame-duck session.
Congressional earmarking has exploded in recent years, and the practice remains controversial among college officials. Critics say earmarks circumvent the open competitions that federal agencies use to distribute most of their research funds. Supporters say earmarks are the only method of paying for some worthy projects that federal grant makers have overlooked.
The level financing for Pentagon earmarks contrasts with assurances from House leaders last month that they were cutting back on earmarking. In all, earmarked funds in House appropriations bills for 2007 fell by nearly half, to about $10-billion in 2007 from nearly $18-billion this year, said John Scofield, a spokesman for the House Committee on Appropriations.
In the defense bill alone, earmarked funds fell to $5-billion for 2007, compared with $6-billion this year, he said. According to Mr. Scofield, there was no deliberate effort in the House to spare research earmarks from the ax.
Critics of earmarks can take heart: Because of the level financing for pork-barrel basic-research projects in the Pentagon bill, most of the 6-percent increase for overall basic research for 2007 will flow to nonearmarked, competitively awarded grants.
One provision offers welcome news for all universities: The bill doubles spending for a Pentagon scholarship program, the National Defense Education Program, to $19.5-million in 2007.
The relatively small program pays full tuition and stipends for undergraduates and graduate students who study mathematics and science and agree to work for the Pentagon or defense-related firms after graduation. In 2006 multiyear awards went to 32 students.
In the spending bill for homeland security, the $12-million cut would prevent the office from awarding any new fellowships or naming any new Homeland Security Centers of Excellence in the 2007 fiscal year, according to the journal Science.
In a report accompanying the measure, lawmakers demanded a briefing on the department's goals and projected results for its six Centers of Excellence. The centers, which are made up of consortia of universities, conduct research on topics such as how to predict a terrorist attack, how to protect the food system from contamination, and how to disrupt terrorist attacks when they occur.
Rear Adm. Jay M. Cohen, the under secretary in charge of the department's Science and Technology Directorate, acknowledged lawmakers' displeasure at a recent Congressional reception for people involved in the centers.
"Congress is not pleased with the performance in my directorate," he told university researchers and Congressional staff members. "I need to show better performance, better books."
To the relief of researchers at the existing centers, the final bill does not include a provision contained in an earlier, Senate-passed version that would have prohibited the department from financing any center for more than three years. The oldest Centers of Excellence were created three years ago, and are now up for renewal.
