Pentagon Bill Cuts Spending for Research

By JEFFREY BRAINARD

Defense spending on basic research would receive no increase in 2008 under a plan approved last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The budget for Darpa, the Pentagon's research agency, would be trimmed by nearly 7 percent.

The spending bill would give basic research a total of $1.56-billion, which represents a cut of 0.2 percent from this year's total but a larger drop when adjusted for inflation. About 60 percent of the Pentagon's basic-research money typically flows to