R&D PRIORITIES GO TO NIH, DEFENSE

Abstract

OVERALL GOVERNMENT RESEARCH and development funding for fiscal 2002 will rise slightly during this year, but the increase in support is very selective and indicates specific priorities of President George W Bush. The total of $953 billion proposed for all R&D support is 6% more than in 2001. Most of the increase is going to the big-ticket agencies of the Defense Department, with a 9% rise to more than $45 billion, and to the National Institutes of Health, which continues its dramatic climb with a 12% jump to more than $23 billion. This first Bush budget arrived late—as most first budgets do, so the President can shape government spending instead of accepting the previous Administration's spendingplan.The 2002 R&D budget proposal blundy shows Bush's priorities. First is his need to hold down discretionary spending, which is most of R&D, because he is trying to get Congress to pass a large tax cut and he has to ...