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![handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysagpe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUT-ENTICATED
US. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
GP
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RE-
LATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2016
U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[CLERK'S NOTE.-The subcommittee was unable to hold hearings
on nondepartmental witnesses. The statements and letters of those
submitting written testimony are as follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
The American Geophysical Union (AGU), a non-profit, non-partisan scientific soci-
ety, appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony regarding the fiscal year 2016
budget request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National
Science Foundation (NSF). The AGU, on behalf of its over 60,000 Earth and space
scientist members, respectfully requests that the 114th Congress appropriate:
-$18.91 billion overall for NASA, $5.51 billion for the Science Mission Direc-
torate;
-$5.98 billion overall for NOAA; and
-$7.72 billion overall for NSF.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMINISTRATION
AGU requests that Congress appropriate $18.91 billion for NASA in fiscal year
2016. Additionally, AGU requests that Congress appropriate $5.51 billion for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate. These increases represent a 5 percent increase
over the fiscal year 2015 appropriated levels.
Despite increases in appropriation, NASA's budget has fallen in real dollars by
10.5 percent since fiscal year 1995. Unless this pattern is reversed, NASA will cede
its leadership in the Earth and space science missions and exploration that the U.S.
has historically pioneered. A request of 5 percent allows NASA to grow above the
rate of inflation.
Within NASA's Science Mission Directorate, AGU requests that Congress set ap-
propriations for the Earth, Planetary, and Heliophysics Divisions that are equitable
and in harmony with their respective Decadal studies produced by the National Re-
search Council.
Earth Science and Planetary Science Divisions
Missions within NASA's Earth Science Division aid in flood prediction, earth-
quake response, and severe storm tracking. Greater knowledge and prediction skills
are urgent when we consider the effort, time and costs of protecting infrastructure
along coasts, rebuilding fish populations in our seas, developing new water re-
sources for manufacturing and agriculture, and restoring communities in the wake
of hazards. These observations, and many others like them, are integral and require
the vantage point of outer space.
NASA's Planetary Science Division advances our understanding of the solar sys-
tem and inspires future generations of scientists. However, with no outer planet
missions currently in early-stage development and barring any major funding in-
crease, the U.S. will soon relinquish its presence beyond Mars.
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