CONTENTS
BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS
- FY17 Defense Funding Bill Appears Headed to House Floor Next Week
- NDD United Urges Budget Protection for Domestic Programs in FY18;
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- AAU Op-Ed Against Travel Ban Published in Houston Chronicle
BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS
FY17 DEFENSE FUNDING BILL APPEARS HEADED TO HOUSE FLOOR NEXT WEEK
The House next week is expected to take up the FY17 Defense spending bill ( H.R. 1301 ), which has already been negotiated by House and Senate appropriators. The bill includes $2.276 billion for 6.1 basic research, which is 1.4 percent below the FY16 level, but a 7.2 percent increase from the House version of the bill released last year.
The status of the 10 remaining FY17 appropriations bills remains unclear. Military Construction-Veterans Affairs was approved last September with the FY17 continuing resolution ( H.R 5325 ). The FY17 continuing resolution runs through April 28.
NDD UNITED URGES BUDGET PROTECTION FOR DOMESTIC PROGRAMS IN FY18
On March 1, NDD United, a coalition of more than 2,000 organizations focused on the non-defense discretionary (NDD) portion of the federal budget, sent a letter to the President and Members of Congress urging them to work together to “protect NDD programs from further cuts and end sequestration." The letter added, "Such sequestration relief must be equally balanced between nondefense and defense programs." AAU participates in NDD United.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
AAU OP-ED AGAINST TRAVEL BAN PUBLISHED IN HOUSTON CHRONICLE
AAU President Mary Sue Coleman and Rice University President/AAU Board Chair David Leebron made the case that the President’s January 27 travel ban has had a harmful effect on university research collaborations in an op-ed published February 27 in the Houston Chronicle.