Carnahan Calls for Increase in Defense Department's Science and Technology
Budget
                                    
Washington, DC (April 10, 2002) - Noting that our Armed Forces must remain well-equipped with the most cutting-edge technologies available if we are to combat terrorism at home
and abroad, United States Senator Jean Carnahan today called for an increase in
the Defense Department's science and technology budget.

"Long before September 11, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld announced his intention to
transform the military into a 'lighter, faster, more lethal fighting force,'"
said Carnahan.  "This process has only become more essential as the United
States combats terrorists around the globe.

"Yet, despite Secretary Rumsfeld's statement that the science and technology
budget should be 3 percent of the defense budget, the Pentagon's proposed
investments in science and technology for this year only account for 2.6 percent
of the defense budget.  If this level of funding continues, by 2007 the defense
budget will only set aside 2.28 percent for science and technology."

Carnahan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), made the
comments while chairing a hearing of the SASC Subcommittee on Emerging Threats
titled, "Technologies to Combat Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction."

To address this science and technology funding shortfall, Carnahan wrote to
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (N.D.) to request that he include a
provision in the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Resolution directing Congress to
appropriate adequate funding levels of the Defense Department's science and
technology programs.

The provision, now part of the Budget Resolution, calls for the science and
technology account to reach 3 percent over the next five years, giving the
research community the tools necessary to develop the most comprehensive, high
tech defenses against America's enemies.
Science and technology funds are used for research into groundbreaking
technologies such as cyber-warfare; chemical, biological, and nuclear defense;
nano-technology; unmanned aerial vehicles; and directed energy lasers.  

These funds also have a major impact on Missouri's economy.  The Department of
Defense accounts for approximately 76 percent of all federal research and
development dollars spent in Missouri.  According to the National Science
Foundation, in 1999, $522 million in science and technology funding went to
Missouri's research universities.  And the Alliance for Science & Technology
Research in America (ASTRA) reports that 36 of every 1,000 private sector
workers in Missouri are employed by high-tech firms.

Today's hearing also focused on efforts to combat weapons of mass destruction. 
Recently, Carnahan introduced legislation to authorize the construction of a
weapons of mass destruction training facility at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 
Such a facility would improve Fort Leonard Wood's facilities for chemical,
biological, and nuclear response training.