We have attached to this statement a table that measures the dramatic impact of NIOSH budget cuts during the 1980's. You will note that the Fiscal 1980 appropriation for NIOSH was $80.4 million (base year), of which $12.9 million was for Education and training. In Fiscal 1992. it would require a NIOSH appropriation of $168,521,715 just to equal the comparable funding of 1980! If these same real dollar figures were to be applied to the Education and training program, an appropriation of over $25 million in Fiscal 1992 would be required just to keep the same level of education activity as existed in 1980! Occupational hazards have become increasingly more complex. After extremely hazardous conditions have been identified, it requires highly skilled and broadly trained professionals to evaluate the real causes of injuries and illnesses so that effective and low-cost remedies can be developed and instituted. Our present level of occupational health and education activity in the United States is simply not meeting the demand for such professionals. It should be emphasized that the annual cost of occupational injuries and illnesses in our country is now estimated to be $200 billion! This amounts to about $1,667 per worker each year! NIOSH's current budget, on the other hand, amounts to a public investment per worker is less than one dollar. By comparison, Sweden, for example, in 1988, spent the equivalent of $12.33 in preventive occupational safety and health programs for each worker and Finland invested $12.29 per worker in 1986. These statistical comparisons are even more startling when measured against the fact that occupational musculoskeletal disorders alone cause the disability of some 12 million U.S. workers annually, while occupational. traumatic injuries disable another 10 million workers and result in the annual death of some 10,000 workers. Occupational-induced hearing loss affects some 500,000 American workers a year. Many, if not most, of these fatalities and injuries could be prevented by more effective, professionally-directed safety and health programs. We Much is said today about the need for America to become more competitive so as to reduce our trade and budget deficits. believe that the prevention of even a modest portion of the annual occupational injuries, diseases and deaths would produce dramatic dividends throughout our economy. We are acutely aware of the difficult budgetary situation which confronts the Congress and the major effort that is required to get the deficit under control. But we are also convinced that the benefits of an effective occupational health and safety program are critical to the Nation's future, and thus warrant additional funding. We, therefore, urge you and your committee to seriously consider an appropriation for Fiscal 1992 of a total of $130 million for NIOSH activities, including $114.5 million_in_the research line and $15.4 million in training line of the CDC/NIOSH budget. The latter figure includes a modest restoration of lost ground in the ERC and Project Training Grant and a small expansion of the research training effort just recently begun. We thank you for your past support of our work and sincerely hope that your evaluation of the progress we have made in occupational health and safety education despite limited funding will merit your favorable action on our budgetary request. STATEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA'S PUBLIC TELEVISION STATIONS Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony to this distinguished committee on behalf of the appropriation request for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for Fiscal Year 1994. It is now universally recognized that education in America must be improved if we are to be a happy and prosperous nation, able to compete in the new global economy. America's 342 public television stations have long been committed to providing quality educational programming to schools, homes and the workplace. Mr. Chairman, we can help meet the challenge. America's public television stations can harness the power of telecommunications to reach this nation's underserved populations with formal and informal educational programming and services that will provide a better quality of life— especially for the disadvantaged. After a year-long study involving community and professional leadership, public television has drawn up a five-point strategy, which addresses some of America's greatest educational and social concerns. We are requesting additional funding for public broadcasting in FY 1994 so that we can begin to implement this strategy, which will: 1. Expand community partnerships; use programming to stimulate community action on 3. Develop new services for preschoolers which impart positive family and social values. 5. Develop programming and expand outreach initiatives to increase citizen Federal support for this initiative is essential. Public television's current funding levels from federal and community sources are already fully committed toward fulfilling existing mandates. We request this subcommittee to appropriate $355 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in FY 1994. The federal government's appropriation to CPB and other federal grants and contracts account for 16 percent of public television's total revenue; and this 16 percent is the keystone of public television's diverse sources of income. The federal dollar not only indicates congressional and national support for public television, but also acts as a magnet drawing approximately six nonfederal dollars into the public system for every federal dollar appropriated to CPB. The federal contribution is an essential catalyst for this exemplary public-private partnership. Public television's commitment to preschool children has been at the core of its service for more than 20 years. A whole generation of children has grown up watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, first broadcast in 1967, and Sesame Street, first seen in 1969. More recently, abandoned by the commercial network he had served for more than a decade, Captain Kangaroo has found a new home on public television-where he can continue to bring his inspirational messages to young children. |