Chairman Gordon Comments on Administration Budget

(Washington, DC) — Today, the Administration released their budget request for FY10. House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) offered the following statement:

“Overall, I’m pleased that the president’s budget is maintaining the commitment we made to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy Office of Science in the America COMPETES Act, especially taken in context of the historic investments made in science and technology through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The budget request for FY 2010 demonstrates that the Administration recognizes the value of NASA’s programs to the nation. As the NASA Authorization Act of 2008 demonstrates, there now exists a broad bipartisan consensus on the goals, objectives, and implementation strategies for NASA. I look forward to working with the president to ensure that NASA will have the resources it will need in FY 2010 and in the years beyond to successfully carry out the tasks the nation is asking it to undertake.

While we never make decisions about spending taxpayer money lightly, the economic collapse has made us take a hard look at every dollar we spend. These investments in science and technology will pay dividends for the nation. Roughly half of the growth in GDP over the past fifty years came from development and adoption of new technologies. Innovation—especially new energy technologies—is the path to reinvigorating our economy and ensuring our competitiveness over the next 50 years.

I also vow that our Committee will continue aggressive oversight of the agencies and programs within our jurisdiction to ensure that taxpayer money is being spent wisely. In the three months since our first hearing of the 111^th Congress, we have held eight oversight hearings at either the Full or Subcommittee level.

I look forward to working with my Congressional colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the president, and our agencies as we work to meet the many challenges our country is facing: putting people back to work; understanding, mitigating, and preventing climate change; meeting our growing need for energy we produce at home; maintaining our scientific leadership; and ensuring that our children are prepared for the jobs of the 21^st century.”

For more information, please see the Committee’s website.

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