Promoting Electrotechnology Careers and Public Policy

August 19, 1999

The Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee

The Honorable C.W. Young
Chairman
U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee

Dear Mr. Chairmen:

On behalf of the 240,000 members of the IEEE-USA I am writing to express our concern with the recently agreed to cuts to the NASA budget for FY00 in the House VA-HUD-Independent Agencies appropriations bill, H.R. 2684. We urge you to remedy these cuts and fully fund NASA’s FY00 budget at the amount requested of $13.6 billion.

NASA’s budget has steadily decreased in each of the past five years but NASA has managed to cope with these reduced resources and still maintain high quality exploration and research activities. The almost 11 percent cut to the enacted FY99 budget proposed by the House Appropriations Committee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies would be devastating to many critical programs that employ a large number of highly trained workers throughout the U.S.

The IEEE-USA believes NASA has demonstrated its value in providing important benefits to our citizens. NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise programs, which were most severely cut, are providing increased knowledge and understanding of the earth’s environment. Additionally, the proposed cuts to NASA’s programs relating to improved aviation safety come at a time when air travel is reaching record levels and the need for new safety technology is becoming more critical.

The proposed cuts will lead to serious and permanent damage to the U.S. aerospace and aeronautics programs if enacted. We understand and sympathize with your challenge to work within the spending caps but urge you to provide the full amount requested for NASA’s FY00 budget as a matter of national priority.

Sincerely,

Paul J. Kostek
President
IEEE-USA