Leadership Shifts in Key Science Funding Committees

When the 105th Congress opens in January 1997, psychologists will find new faces leading several committees that are important to the behavioral sciences. In the Senate, Ted Stevens (R-AK) will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee. Bearing a more confrontational style than the chair he replaced (Sen. Mark Hatfield [R-OR] who retired), Sen. Stevens is nonetheless expected to negotiate with the Administration and be a strong advocate for Senate positions while in conference with House appropriators. Sen. Stevens will also chair the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) will remain as Ranking Member.

Two steadfast supporters of biomedical and behavioral research, Sens. Connie Mack (R-FL) and James Jeffords (R-VT), may leave the Appropriations Committee to serve on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and other federal revenue. There are two Republican vacancies on the Finance Committee, and several Senators are campaigning for the appointments. Sen. Jeffords and Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) are the leading contenders to chair the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, which reauthorizes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Sen. Stevens's move to chair the Appropriations Committee leaves open the chairmanship of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, which in the last Congress considered H.R. 1271, the Family Privacy Protection Act (see Psychological Science Agenda, September/October 1996, p. 3). The Government Affairs Committee will be chaired by Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), who is considered conservative to moderate and nonideological.

There is little change in the leadership of the House Committees responsible for science funding. One notable exception is in the House Science Committee, which has jurisdiction over the reauthorizations of NSF and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The retirement of Chairman Robert Walker (R-PA) has made room for Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who will chair the panel beginning in January. A former chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, Rep. Sensenbrenner's main interests lie in NASA.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) will chair the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. This Committee's main charge is the oversight of federal agencies, but it also has some legislative jurisdiction. In the 104th Congress, the Committee approved the Family Privacy Protection Act, albeit a less harmful version than what eventually passed in the House of Representatives.

NIH's main champion in the House, Rep. John Porter (R-IL), will continue to chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

APA Home Page . Search . Site Map