Congressional Committees Contemplate Research Bill

Three days of Congressional hearings ended yesterday on a research and development bill opposed by Harvard and other universities on the grounds it would diminish federal funds for university research.

The proposed bill, which is supported by the Reagan administration and has already been approved by the Senate, would triple the amount of the federal research and development budget to small business, to 3 per cent from under 1 per cent, reducing the amount available for universities and some other institutions like Harvard, officials said.

Future Uncertain

Parker L. Coddington, director of government relations, yesterday declined to predict whether the bill would go through. He said he had assisted members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) in preparing testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, which held hearings this week, as did the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Donald Kennedy, president of Stanford University, yesterday spoke on behalf of the AAU before the Science and Technology committee and emphasized that small businesses were not well-equipped to conduct basic research, Jacyn L. Mitchell, a Stanford spokesman, said yesterday.

Kennedy said the money that would go to small businesses would aid innovation (applied science) resulting in a decrease the total amount of basic research in the country, Mitchell said. High energy physics is an example of research that small business is not equipped to do, and could suffer if the bill passes, Mitchell said.

Supporters of the bill include the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54 (D-Mass.), although Kennedy did express concern over the alleged danger to basic research.

Basic scientific and engineering research account for about $5.5 billion of the $40 billion total federal research and development budget.

Limits to Growth

John J. Motley, deputy director for federal legislation at the NFIB defended the bill, saying that small business has been responsible for more than half of all major innovations in the past three decades.

The Real Scoop

"The truth is somewhere in the middle." Kenneth Chilton, associate director of the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University, said yesterday. Chilton, who testified before the Science and Technology Committee as an independent expert, added that Congress should institute procedures assuring that small business receives more funds but without specifying a set funding level.

Three educational lobbying organizations, including the AAU which includes Harvard as a member, jointly recommended that in the event the committee advises passage of the bill, it should also urge that Congressional committees "be required to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of the legislation.