University Heads to Washington for Science Aid

Harvard plans to step up its lobbying efforts in Washington this year, in an attempt to squeeze more money from the federal budget for science funding.

After Congress last year approved a 15 percent increase in funding for the National Institutes for Health (NIH), many at Harvard felt they could relax their lobbying efforts.

"There is no extraordinary thing [left to lobby for] on the D.C. scene," President Neil L. Rudenstine said at the end of last year.

But a month ago, with a $200 million science initiative in the works for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Rudenstine sang a different tune, saying he had become "less optimistic" about this year's federal support for science research.

"We have to go back to Washington sooner rather than later," Rudenstine said.

On Monday, the White House confirmed Rudenstine's fears, proposing a meager 2 percent increase in funding to the NIH and 7 percent increase to the National Science Foundation.

"This is not the best place to start from," said Kevin Casey, Harvard's director of Federal and State Relations.

But Casey said Congress will likely add somewhat to the White House's "sobering" funding outlook, and said he remains "quietly optimistic."

Casey said Harvard has strong support from Senators like Massachusetts' Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56, Tom Harken (D.-Neb.) and Arlen Specter (R.-Penn.) have already talked about increasing the NIH budget by "a couple of billion" dollars.

"We'll be there trying to make the case for it," Rudenstine said.

And Harvard's Washington lobbying corps is no stranger to pushing for science funding. Several years ago, Harvard co-founded the Science Coalition, an association of research universities which has grown into a formidable lobbying force. In addition, the University itself employs at least one lobbyist who focuses specifically on science funding.