WASHINGTON—Although the 1991 budget that President Bush will present to Congress next month is expected to propose bigger budgets for many science research programs, the sobering truth is that there isn’t going to be enough money available to support the programs.
The budget, still in preparation and scheduled to be delivered January 8 to Congress, is expected to contain major increases in a variety of scientific projects already under way. The figures could be as large as $400 million for the Superconduct ing Supercollider (SSC), up from $225 million this year; $2.7 billion for the space Station, up from $1.85 billion this year; and $200 million for the human genome project, up from $91 million this year. The National Science Foundation is also expected to get another healthy increase, part of the administration’s oft-repeated promise to double its budget within five years.
The president’s budget may also contain addenda that...