The United States is waging a campaign it cannot afford to lose: the effort to nurture the basic, often long-shot research that drives much economic growth. Understanding this, the nation has for years led the world in research-and-development investment. But it takes due diligence to stay atop the effort. The good news is that federal funding for life sciences research has soared in the past decade. But the largesse has been unevenly distributed. Uncle Sam has not been investing enough-or particularly wisely-in the fundamental physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering research necessary to ensure new computing architectures, alternative energy sources, improved forms of transportation, and other underpinnings of a vibrant economy.

Redressing this imbalance must be a first order of business for the new Congress. The previous Congress left Washington, DC, having appropriated funds for nothing but the Defense Department for fiscal year 2003, which began last October 1. This means that the modest plans afoot to bolster the physical sciences-chiefly in the budget of the National Science Foundation-are still on shaky ground. Its appropriation must be finalized. Even more critical is the fiscal 2004 budget due to be taken up this month. Failure to significantly boost spending on physical sciences and engineering-not just at NSF, but also at the Department of Energy, NASA, and fellow agencies-would be a grave mistake.