THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                     The 21st Century Research Fund
                  Preparing America for the 21st Century

January 29, 1998

Investing in research is critical to America's future:

• Economists estimate that half of U.S. productivity growth stems from technological advances.
• High-tech, knowledge-intensive industries are playing a greater role in economic growth, job creation, and exports. In 1996, high-tech industries (information, communications, electronics) employed more than 4.2 million Americans at wages that are 73 percent above the private sector average.
• Government-supported research is critical to U.S. technological innovation. 73 percent of the main science patents cited by American industrial patents were based on research financed by government or non-profit agencies.
• Increased R&D will lead to scientific advances and breakthroughs such as cures for deadly diseases, cleaner sources of energy, and new insights about the solar system. Whole new industries that spring up to commercialize new technologies that are developed.

The 21st Century Research Fund will lead to major, sustained increases in a wide range of civilian science and technology investments:

• The Fund would grow from $31 billion in 1999 to $38 billion in 2003.
• This is an increase in these programs of 8 percent over 1998 and 32 percent by 2003.
• The Fund is the centerpiece of the Administration's research and development budget. It supports civilian research investments, but does not include defense R&D or major development programs.

Highlights of the 21st Century Fund include:

National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Fund provides a $1.15 billion increase for NIH, the largest ever, to a proposed $14.8 billion agency funding level that will support greater research on diabetes, brain disorders, cancer, drug demand reduction, genetic medicine, disease prevention strategies, and the development of an AIDS vaccine. By 2003, the NIH budget would increase 50 percent, to $20 billion.

National Science Foundation. The Budget provides $3.7 billion, 10 percent more than in 1998, for NSF, whose broad mission is to promote science and engineering research and education across all fields and disciplines. The $344 million increase is NSF's largest ever.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Fund supports various ongoing activities, including: $2.1 billion for Space Science -- a three percent increase over 1998, leading to more robotic exploration of the solar system.

Department of Energy (DoE). The Fund provides $2.7 billion for DoE's science research and nuclear fusion programs, for construction of the National Spallation Neutron Source, and for the international partnership on the Large Hadron Collider. The Fund also includes funds for DoE research under the Climate Change Technology Initiative.

Department of Commerce (DoC). The Fund provides $851 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program, construction of an Advanced Measurement Laboratory on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research activities. The Advanced Technology Program will increase from $182 million in 1998 to $399 million by 2003.