Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

19 April 2004

The Honorable Judd Gregg
Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, State and the Judiciary
393 Russell Senate Building
Washington DC 20510

Dear Senator Gregg:

I am writing on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-United States of America (IEEE-USA) in regards to the FY 2005 budget request for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST). While IEEE-USA appreciates and strongly supports the significant increase in funding for NIST's vital laboratory program, we are concerned that the increase will not adequately compensate for the major decrease in funding in the previous fiscal year. We believe that strong reassurances of stability of funding are necessary. Furthermore, we oppose the elimination of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and the corresponding reductions to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.

The ATP provides critical resources for high risk, long term research and development and relies on cost sharing, peer review and competition to ensure that only deserving proposals are funded. It is a model for collaboration between the federal government and the private sector in funding advanced technologies. Over the past decade, the ATP has awarded 709 projects. Four out of five ATP projects result in new products or processes introduced into the marketplace, and half of all ATP projects result in a patent application. One prosthesis technology project alone is projected to deliver $15 billion in the economy. This is exactly the type of payoff Americans expect for their
tax dollars.

The MEP, too, has a proven track record of promoting innovation and economic growth. The MEP has helped over 150,000 small and mid-size businesses to grow, modernize, and improve productivity. Given the significant benefit it provides to American innovation, economic prosperity and job creation, cutting the MEP at this time would be a serious mistake. We understand the difficult decisions that Congress must make in a very tough budget deficit environment. However, we believe that eliminating the ATP and reducing the MEP budget is short sighted and is detrimental to the United States' international competitiveness. We strongly urge you to support funding the ATP at the level of $145 million and the MEP at $106 million, as provided in the FY2004 budget, while sustaining the requested budget for the NIST laboratory program.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE. It was created in 1973 to advance the public good and promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 225,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional society. If you have any questions or we can be of further assistance, please contact Bill Williams, legislative representative for our Research and Development Policy Committee, at (202) 785-0017
ext. 8331.

Sincerely,

John W. Steadman, Ph.D., P.E.
2004 President

[LETTER TO HOUSE & SENATE APPROPRIATORS]