While some U.S. government representatives have suggested there is no crisis in computer science research, government studies and legislative efforts are on the horizon that could ultimately affirm or rebut that assertion.

"The overall health of U.S. science and technology today is strong," John H. Marburger, President Bush's science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told lawmakers during Congressional hearings in May. "We are spending three times as much as Japan on R&D and half again as much as all the European nations combined."

Proposed 2006 fiscal-year spending of $132 billion in total federal R&D is a record, and includes a $2.2 billion renewal of the government's main program targeting IT, Marburger said.

A bill proposing broad government coordination of high-end computing research (HR 28) passed the House in March and awaits Senate action. According to a legislative aide, that could occur before the current session adjourns. The May Congressional hearings generated no fresh legislation.

Meanwhile, several studies of the issue have been proposed. Bush's 2006 budget asks the National Academies to identify science and technology areas that require advancements in computing. The Senate Armed Services Committee has called on the Defense Department to review "the long-term practical and policy implications of the department's investment strategy for computing research" as part of the DOD's 2007 budget request.

In late September, Bush ordered the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to take a broad look at federal IT spending. PCAST takes on the job from a separate presidential commission whose charter Bush did not renew.

"I have great confidence in PCAST, but I don't have confidence in this administration," said Edward D. Lazowska, a CS professor at the University of Washington, who had a leading role in the committee Bush let dissolve.