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06 December 2001

War on Terrorism Brings Plan to Cut Smithsonian Financing

By Richard W. Stevenson with James Glanz

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 -- In a sign of its intention to pare spending to pay for the war on terrorism, the Bush administration has proposed substantial cuts in the Smithsonian Institution's budget, enraging scientists who said the reductions would effectively gut the institution's research capabilities.

The White House Office of Management and Budget informed the Smithsonian last week that it wanted to hold the institution's budget next year to $470.2 million, a reduction of $27 million, or 5.4 percent.

Scientists within the Smithsonian and members of Congress said the budget plan would imperil three of the institution's crown jewels: its astrophysical observatory, its tropical research institute and its environmental research center.

Under the plan, financing for all three research operations would be transferred to the National Science Foundation, which would decide how much, if any, money the institutes would receive. The proposed financing for the three agencies next year is $35.7 million.

The White House budget director, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., said last week that the administration would concentrate money on the war and domestic security in drawing up its next budget and would "make all the necessary adjustments in order to fund those new imperatives."

The spending proposal for the Smithsonian -- and the likelihood that the administration will seek cuts in many other domestic programs -- is already drawing protests from Democrats.

They said important programs are being squeezed because President Bush forced through a $1.35 trillion tax cut earlier this year. Democrats warned at the time that the tax cut passed that it would leave the government with no financial buffer should the economy deteriorate or the nation face an emergency.

"This would be pretty devastating for the Smithsonian," said Representative Robert T. Matsui, Democrat of California, who is a regent of the Smithsonian.

The administration proposal would provide $38.3 million in additional money to the Smithsonian for salaries and general expenses. But that increase would be more than offset by a $9.6 million cut in money for repairs and restorations, a $20 million cut in the construction budget and the plan to move financing for the three research institutes to the National Science Foundation.

A senior administration official said that aside from moving the scientific financing to another agency, the Smithsonian would actually receive a budget increase. The administration wanted to move financing for the scientific research to the National Science Foundation, the official said, because it has a strong reputation for allocating money to the most worthy projects.

"The N.S.F. doesn't do museums," the official said, "and possibly the Smithsonian ought not to be dabbling in random research."

Supporters of the Smithsonian on Capitol Hill said the cutbacks would force the Smithsonian to halt work on one of its most prominent projects, renovation of the old Patent Office Building in Washington, which is to be the new home of the museum's American art collection.

David Umansky, the Smithsonian's director of communications, said the institution had appealed the administration's budget plan on Monday night. He declined to comment further.

The shift of research funds to the National Science Foundation would immediately affect about 250 scientists working at three Smithsonian scientific institutes.

Source: The New York Times