Sherwood Boehlert: “as I stated in yesterday's debate, I have no quarrel with the basic thrust of this bill; indeed, I heartily endorse its…”

“as I stated in yesterday's debate, I have no quarrel with the basic thrust of this bill; indeed, I heartily endorse its fundamental principles. But I do have a problem with the authorization levels in this bill, which are utterly unrealistic-- indeed, they represent a denial of reality. These authorization debates we have, have come to remind me of nothing so much as the children's program ``Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.'' It is as if, at the beginning of authorization discussions, we take off our coats and shoes, put on our cardigans and slippers, affect our mildest expressions and most benign tones, and pretend that we can be nice to everybody in our neighborhood--which is to say everyone in the entire Nation. We sing soothing songs of plenty for our hour of fantasy, and then we let the appropriators bring the disharmony of reality into the world. This is, to speak frankly, a screwy way to set priorities. The authorization ought to reflect the same budget realities under which the rest of Congress has to labor. And this bill does not. We are dealing with an agency that has seen its budget more than double--that's right, double--since 1986, and the bill is proposing 6 percent growth in each of the next 2 years at the time of a discretionary budget freeze. Does this sound realistic, even for an agency as valued and esteemed as the NSF? I do not think so. But you do not have to take my word for it.…”