As the U.S. pullout on December 31, 1984 approached, scientists worldwide worried about the impact that a 25 percent reduction in the UNESCO budget—the U.S. contribution—would have on the international Organization's science programs, as well as on U.S. scientific interests around the world. Stepping forward with reassurances at the time was then Assistant Secretary of State Gregory J. Newell, who indicated that the U.S.'s $47 million annual contribution to UNESCO, $14 million of which went to science, would be rechanneled to support comparable multinational work.
The State Department did recommend such allocations for fiscal year 1986, but the Reagan Administration's budget contained nothing in the way of UNESCO substitute funds. It was only through the last-minute efforts of William Salmon, then senior staff assistant at the State Department, that $2.75 million was penciled into the budget— almost all of it earmarked for science programs.
However, Congress, under pressure to reduce ...
