Behavioral and Social Sciences Directorate Act of 1990 - Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to establish within the National Science Foundation a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences.
HR 5543 IH 101st CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5543 To establish a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences within the National Science Foundation. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 3, 1990 Mr. WALGREN (for himself and Mr. BROWN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To establish a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences within the National Science Foundation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Behavioral and Social Sciences Directorate Act of 1990'. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that-- (1) the contributions of the behavioral and social sciences to the welfare of the Nation have been well-documented in reports by the National Academy of Sciences, in testimony before the Congress, and through other means; (2) in 1968, the Congress recognized the potential of these disciplines to benefit the Nation by providing the National Science Foundation explicit authority to support the social sciences; (3) Federal funding is essential if the Nation is to realize the potential resulting from advancements in research in the behavioral and social sciences; (4) the programs carried out by the National Science Foundation in the social and behavioral sciences have, since 1975, been administered by the Directorate for Biological, Behavioral and Social Sciences (an administrative unit of the Foundation), which Directorate has been headed solely by biologists; (5) financial support provided by the National Science Foundation for research has increased 27 percent in constant dollars since 1980, while financial support provided by the Foundation for research in the psychological and social sciences has fallen by 38 percent in constant dollars during the same period; (6) Federal financial support for the behavioral and social sciences has fallen by approximately 30 percent in constant dollars since the late 1970's; and (7) the public welfare regarding the behavioral and social sciences is best served by providing such sciences a status within the National Science Foundation equal to the status provided to disciplines represented in the Foundation through separate directorates. (b) PURPOSE- The purpose of this Act is to establish a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences to carry out the functions of the National Science Foundation that relate to the behavioral and social sciences. SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT, WITHIN NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, OF A DIRECTORATE FOR BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. Section 8 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1866) is amended to read as follows: `DIRECTORATES AND DIVISIONS WITHIN THE FOUNDATION `SEC. 8. (a) There is established within the Foundation a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences, which shall be headed by an Assistant Director of the Foundation (hereafter in this section referred to as `the Assistant Director'). The Director of the Foundation, in consultation with the Board, shall appoint the Assistant Director, who shall be an individual with expertise and experience in the behavioral and social sciences. `(b) The Foundation, acting through the Assistant Director, shall carry out the functions specified in section 3 as such functions relate to the behavioral and social sciences. `(c) There shall be within the Foundation such directorates in addition to the directorate established in subsection (a), and such divisions within the directorates, as the Director, in consultation with the Board, may from time to time determine. `(d) Each additional directorate shall be headed by an assistant director. Each assistant director shall receive basic pay of equal rates and shall perform duties similar to every other assistant director. `(e) For purposes of this section, the term `behavioral and social sciences' includes anthropology, behavioral neuroscience, demography, economics, geography, history, linguistics, political science, psychology and psychological processes, sociology, and any other disciplines commonly understood to be within the realm of the behavioral and social sciences.'.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
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