PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Congress Increases Funding for NSF Biological Sciences, Plant Genome Research

The conference agreement reached by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Conference Committee for the fiscal year 2004 omnibus spending bill budgets approximately $588.5 million for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Biological Sciences (NSF BIO). The conference agreed to provide $90 million to NSF’s plant genome research program, up $5 million from fiscal year 2003 appropriations and $15 million from NSF’s request for fiscal year 2004. The conference agreement was signed into law by President Bush on January 23 (Public Law 108-199).

The agreement represents an increase of 3.1 percent for NSF BIO from fiscal year 2003. The conferees bumped up the NSF BIO figure above both the House and Senate recommendations. As a result of Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) and his colleagues’ leadership in support of plant genome research, funding for plant genome research and NSF BIO increased significantly over both the original House and Senate recommendations in conference.

A public affairs alert was sent to ASPB members in advance of the House–Senate conference, encouraging them to support the Senate recommendation of $90 million for plant genome research and accept the higher recommendation for NSF BIO. We appreciate the timely help of those who sent letters. Prior to the conference, ASPB staff met with the House and Senate Appropriations Commit-tees’ staff who manage the NSF portion of the appropriations bill to advocate for $90 million for plant ge-nome research and higher NSF and NSF BIO funding.

Senator Bond has championed support for plant genome research each year since fiscal year 1998, and every year his efforts have been successful in Congress, providing a combined funding total of $465 million for the NSF-sponsored plant genome research program.