Bloch used the annual round of hearings on NSF's request for funding to flesh out the administration's wish to double the agency's budget, to $3.2 billion, by 1992. That financial goal is part of an attempt by Bloch, a former IBM vice president, to graft a corporate approach to long-range planning onto an agency that must delay final decisions until Congress approves its budget each fall.
The atmosphere surrounding Bloch's testimony before the House subcommittee that authorizes the NSF's budget was noticeably warmer than the combative air marking his appearances before the appropriations panels. In gentle questioning by panel chairman Rep. Doug Waigren (D-Pa.), Bloch spelled out in unusual detail his image of NSF if its budget were doubled by 1992. He noted that its initial request to the Office of Management and Budget was for a 33 percent increase next year, and a doubling within three years.
"I hope ...
