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(8) Continued science and technology investments are critical to our national
security. Superior technology allows us to field the strongest military at the lowest cost
-- both economic and human.
This budget shows our firm commitment to defense basic science--the seed
corn on which our technology programs depend. We have maintained funding in defense basic
science at about the same levels for the last three years--about $1.2 billion--despite reductions
elsewhere.
We are giving priority to programs that improve our warfighting capabilities, such as
information technology and advanced modeling and simulation that are changing the battlefield
by giving individual soldiers, sailors, and airmen the benefit of our global information
leadership; to programs that address affordability, such as manufacturing and production
technologies; and to technologies for new missions, such as counter-proliferation, that are
growing in importance.
Many of the technologies we need for advanced military capabilities are available in the
commercial sector, and in some cases they are more advanced and cost less. Through increased
funding for partnerships with industry such as the Technology Reinvestment
Program, we are breaking down the barriers between the defense and commercial
industrial sectors so that we have access to the best of both for our military applications. This
program will increase by $57 million in FY96 to $500 million.
We can use American leadership in international science and technology
cooperation to address global issues such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
excessive population pressure, food scarcity, environmental degradation, deteriorating health
conditions. These conditions are incompatible with the promotion of stability, economic
growth, and the spread of democracy.