SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 3135 words

COMMITTEE: HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS

HEADLINE: FY 2003 APPROPRIATIONS

TESTIMONY-BY: DANIEL P. MULHOLLAN, DIRECTOR,

AFFILIATION: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

BODY:
Statement of

Daniel P. Mulhollan Director, Congressional Research Service

before the Subcommittee on Legislative Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives Fiscal 2003 Budget Request

April 24, 2002

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to present the Fiscal 2003 budget request for the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Our recd nest this year focuses on two areas of critical importance to the nation's security and future stability: terrorism and homeland security, and the aging of the U.S. population. Before discussing the de, ails of our request, however, I would like to thank the Subcommittee for its generous support of our Fiscal 2002 budget. Status of Fiscal 2002 CRS Technology Initiative

Last year, with your support, Congress provided CRS with $3.5 million to build analytical capacity in the areas of information and technology policy, and to acquire the technical staff and tools needed to build and maintain a secure 21st cent -try technology-based research environment. Included in this initiative was funding to hire five senior policy analysts in information and technology policy and 12 technology staff. We plan to have all of these positions posted and a number of selections completed by the end of the summer. Also included in our 2002 technology initiative was funding to support our efforts in the areas of disaster recovery and information security, and to begin developing a collaborative computing infrastructure in CRS. Earlier this year, I approved a series of contracts to support these aspects of our technology initiative, and we are in the process now of implementing those contracts.

While CRS has focused for many years on issues 1 elated to information security and disaster recovery, these efforts took on added significance in the aftermath of the September 11 "' attacks and the anthrax assaults on Capitol Hill. In response to these events, CRS escalated its emergency preparedness and business continuity planning efforts so as to ensure that in the event of any future emergency, Congress would have near-immediate access to needed CRS staff and information systems such as the CRS Website and the Legislative in formation System (LIS). We are working with the House and Senate to ensure that our emergency preparedness planning efforts are consistent with the Legislative Branch direction. Thank you again for your generous investment in our technology capacity. We will continue to use the resourc es you have given us to further protect and enhance our information systems in support of our ultimate goal to build a robust technological infrastructure from which to deliver leading edge research services to the Congress when, where, and in the form that you need them.

Assisting the Congress on Issues Related to Terrorism and Homeland Security Beyond these endeavors to ensure the safety and security of our staff and systems here on Capitol Hill, CRS continues to work closely with Members and Committees in both Houses on a multitude of issues related to combating terrorism and ensuring homeland security. As we are all too aware, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States have fundamentally altered America's way of life. From the barriers of the Capitol - - to the guards posted at the Golden Gate Bridge we see daily reminders of this new and different world: heightened security at public buildings and sporting events; new screening procedures at the nation's airports; town hall meetings to discuss emergency preparedness and evacuation plans; news reports concerning potential risks to our nation's food, water and energy supplies; and continuing uncertainty about the state of the U.S. economy - to name but a few.

In all the years that the U.S. government has had to confront organized terrorism, the challenges of deterrence, detection, interdiction, immediate response, and incident remediation have never been as great, and the consequences of failure more potential],., catastrophic. The September 11th attacks, subsequent anthrax incidents, and the unfolding responses have few precedents in terms of their impact on virtually all U.S. programs and policies. The budgetary implications of these events and the ongoing war against terrorism will be equally profound. Current estimates for homeland security appropriations are $29 billion in Fiscal 2002, and near y $38 billion requested for Fiscal 2003. Future costs will likely continue to rise, accompanied b] numerous questions about how much is adequate, how priorities should be set, and how resourc(s should be allocated. New policies and programs may need to be developed to defend against conventional, biological, chemical, and nuclear attack by improving our threat assessment and response capabilities, federal coordination, law enforcement capabilities, and public health services. Indeed, most of the issues on the Administration and congressional agendas are being reexamined and reshaped in the context of September 11th .

Congress must be prepared to address these challenges in both the short and long term. And CRS must be prepared to help you. Building on our already close working relationship, my goal is for CRS to be there with you at every step of the way as you examine the universe of issues related to combating terrorism and ensuring homeland security. Congress and CRS already have a strong history of working together on terrorism-related issues. For example, following the October 2000 assault on the I.S.S. Cole in Yemen and the release of the recommendations of four national study commissions, CRS supported Congress in its efforts to address federal anti-terrorism policy, organization, and funding, and to develop reform legislation. We provided extensive analysis to a number of Members and Committees examining terrorism-related issues, and developed a range of analytic products and services, including a terrorism website. CRS specialists testified before two House Committees on proposals for reforming U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. We organized a congressional seminar to compare and analyze commission findings with senior representatives from each of the study panels. Several reports and issue briefs were prepared for Congress on terrorismrelated topics, including a comprehensive assessment o-'Near Eastern terrorism groups and state sponsors that was released on September 10, 2001.

To assist Congress in the aftermath of the September l I" attacks, CRS instituted a Servicewide, coordinated response that drew upon senior policy experts in all relevant fields. Within days after the attacks, we had prepared dozens of situation reports and assessments on a range of issues. Within two weeks, we prepared policy analyses on over 80 pertinent topics and offered these to Congress through our website. We provided intensive counsel to a number of Members and Committees during their deliberations of the Fiscal 2002 Emergency Supplemental, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, the USA Patriot Act, and the Border Security and Visa Entry Reform bill. In addition, we continue to conduct in-person briefings and seminars for Members and congressional staff, testify before congressional Committee, and prepare new reports each week on topics ranging from the federal role in emergency management to the future government of Afghanistan.

Mr. Chairman, I am grateful for the opportunity CRS has had to serve you during this difficult time in our nation's history, and I am proud that so many Members and staff have called upon us to deliver the type of objective, nonpartisan assistance that only CRS can provide. Each Member who has called to request a briefing, and each staffer who has called to discuss the implications of a particular policy issue or problem, has given us an opportunity to contribute directly to the nation's recovery from the September 11 "' attacks.

Despite this record of support, however, there are several important areas of expertise that CRS has been unable to offer you up to this point. These areas of expertise include Islamic and Arabic affairs, epidemiology, biochemistry, infrastructure engineering, and comparative religions. For example, a specialist in Islamic and Arabic affairs or com oarative religions would have enabled CRS to analyze in-depth the various Islamic sects and faction, to help Congress address questions about what religious beliefs the terrorists held and how those beliefs may have dictated their actions, what backing those beliefs have in the Islamic world, and why the terrorists exhibit such hatred toward America. Without a specialist in public healthlepidemiology, CRS was similarly not well positioned to provide timely analyses on the nation's readiness to respond to acts of bio-terrorism through early detection and prevention methodologies such as vaccines and prescription drugs, or to discuss the relationship between the U.S. public health system and various state and local health entities and how that relationship supports or hinders accurate threat assessment and early detection and treatment of public health hazards. CRS also lacked the capacity to provide sophisticated analysis on legislative issues associated with domestic risks and threats from biological and chemical agents - expertise that could have been provided by a specialist in biochemistry. Finally, CRS could have done more to assist Congress in assessing risks to the nation's critical infrastructure had we had a specialist who could lead analysis on issues related to structural or civil infrastructure engineering, risks associated with critical infrastructure elements such a; dams and nuclear power supplies, and related governmental planning and operational procedures.

To address these critical gaps in CRS capacity, I am requesting 5 FTEs and $572,000 to hire senior expertise in each of these five areas. These are not capacities to be acquired temporarily on contract.

Nor are they capacities that are resident in CBS's current mix of staff. They are fundamental new competencies that Congress must have available to it in order to legislate effectively on issues related to terrorism and homeland security - issues that are likely to be at the center of the congressional agenda for many years to come. Without this infusion of new expertise, CRS support to Congress on these critical national issues will be incomplete.

Assisting the Congress on Issues Related to the Aging of the U.S. Population Although much of Congress's attention is right] , focused on issues related to combating terrorism and ensuring homeland security, there is another "national security" issue confronting the Congress that I would like to raise with you today, namely the aging of the U.S. population. Issues related to the aging of the U.S. population will affect the lives of millions of Americans and have a profound impact on our economy, our health care system, and on a whole range of social policies and services, from now until well into the foreseeable: future. Already, this session, you are grappling with several major age- related initiatives: improved coverage of prescription drugs under Medicare as proposed in the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act (S. 358) and the Medicare Reform Act (S. 1135); new tax incentives to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance, such as the Health Care Assurance Act (S. 2-1); and increased staffing and improved employment conditions in nursing homes and home health care agencies, as proposed in the Nurse Reinvestment Act (S. 4). In addition, you are facing the prospect of major Social Security reform legislation in the 108'h Congress. Given their enormous scope and the implications they will have for so many aspects of American society, I believe it is critical that CRS begin positioning itself now to assist you with these important issues.

From a budgetary standpoint alone, these issues arc enormous. Annual federal spending associated with retirement and disability programs will reach $1 trillion for the first time in Fiscal 2002. This spending amounts to half of all federal spending and 9% of gross domestic product (GDP). These programs, the largest of which are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal employee retirement, already dominate the fiscal policy debate. Projections indicate that, under current policies, these programs will continue to grow as a proportion of total federal spending and GDP as the U.S. population grows older. Congressional concern with these spending trends will likely intensify because of reduced revenue projections and Vie spending impacts of recession and the war against terrorism. Already, Congress is considering a number of Social Security reform proposals Projections that Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will become insolvent as early as 2029 are also occupying congressional attention. h addition, many Members have expressed concern about the status of the federal-state Medicaid program, which is experiencing a higher growth rate in costs than is Social Security. Many states are in a fiscal struggle to keep their programs adequately funded. Federal Medicaid spending, $143 billion in Fiscal 2002, is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.3% over the next decade, he highest growth rate of any entitlement program. Nearly half of Medicaid spending goes for long-term care services for the elderly.

Against this backdrop of fiscal concern, Congress is under pressure to address perceived weaknesses in current benefits for the aged, and these pressures are likely to grow as the number of elderly Americans begins to accelerate. In particular, the aging and retirement of the "Baby Boomers" (the oldest of whom will reach age 60 in 2006) will cause considerable changes and challenges in our political, social, and budgetary institutions. However, the immediate concern regarding the retirement of the large Baby Boom generation is only a stage in an expected transformation of our society, a transformation that will produce an older population than has ever existed before. Indeed, over the next thirty years, the population overage 65 is projected to double, and will constitute 20 percent of the population in 2030.

Recognition of the future rapid aging of the population is already driving current legislative activity on private pensions, retirement savings, proposals for prescription drug coverage, long-term care, military health care for retirees and dependents, social services for the aging, special housing and assisted living, health personnel and facilities, and other programs focused on the elderly. To address such a broad set of initiatives within the context of flowing budget pressures, the Congress will need access to high levels of expertise across a number of fields. CRS is uniquely positioned to provide this type of expertise, but building such a staff capability will require us to hire new competencies in genetics, gerontology, the economics of aging, and the economics of health care, as well as actuarial and demographic expertise. Accordingly, I am requesting 7 FTEs and $849,000 to hire seven senior analysts to build these capacities in CRS. Given the extraordinary transformation our society will undertake in the coming .,ears, I believe that now is the time to start acquiring and developing this expertise for the Congress.

Growing Capacity for Congress in the Areas of Science and Technology

Finally, I would like to note what I perceive to be a significant added benefit of funding CRS's Fiscal 2003 budget request. If approved, this request would enable CRS to continue building its overall capacity to support the Congress in the areas of science and technology. Indeed, the expertise we are requesting in epidemiology, biochemistry, genetics, gerontology, and pharmacology could be applied broadly across a wide range of emerging legislative policy issues. For example, Congress will be facing increasing legislative needs in the biomedical area with accelerating developments in genetics and biotechnology affecting the areas of human health and governmental oversight; in the domestic and international environmental area as growing population and economic activity place increasing burdens on the sustainability of natural systems; and in the general area of emerging information technologies as they affect security and infrastructure systems. Together with the positions you provided to us last year to increase CRS's technology and information policy capacity, these additional positions would significantly enhance CRS 's ability to enrich the policy analysis it provides to the Congress with high-quality scientific and tec finical expertise.

The addition of these positions would also serve to auprnent the efforts CRS has undertaken within existing resources to identify much-needed science and technology capacities through our ongoing succession planning. Over a year ago, we identified and filled a number of positions in the areas of science and technology, including four Ph.D. s in physics, biomedical science, environmental science, and information policy. In addition, CRS currently is contracting for Ph.D.level expertise in the areas of biology, chemistry, and petroleum geology.

As this budget request demonstrates, science and technology are playing an increasingly important role in virtually all areas of public policy. In order for Congress to legislate effectively in this increasingly complex world environment, you must have access to the best scientific minds and technological expertise the country has to offer. I believe that CRS can and should play a role in providing you with this expertise. If approved, this budget request will assist us in doing so.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you and your colleagues today, and I want to thank you again for the support you and this Sub-committee have given to CRS over the years. I want to assure you that I continue to adjust existing staff and resources to align with the Congress' legislative needs. This request for 12 positions reflects new added capacities that cannot be drawn from other subject areas without weakening CRS 's overall support to Congress across all legislative issues. We take very seriously our mission to provide the Congress with comprehensive and reliable analysis, research, and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature. I hope you find that we are meeting this mission, and that we are doing so in a way t 3at warrants your continued trust and support.



LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2002