WASHINGTON—The Reagan administration is seeking congressional sponsors for a bill that would revive plans to create a federally funded think tank to support research on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). A move by the Pentagon last year to establish the proposed SDI Institute was blocked on Capitol Hill after questions were raised about the need for the center, its staffing and independence.
According to one Senate staff member who requested anonymity, "the SDI Institute is in better shape this year by virtue of the fact that there is more information available." The subject could come up as part of congressional hearings on the SDI program scheduled for later this month. With the current strenuous debate over early SDI deployment, however, no one in Congress or the administration lists the Institute as an immediate priority.
Meredith Neizer, acting project manager for the SDI Institute in the defense secretary's office, said the...
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