AFS urges Congress to restore metalcasting research funds.As a member of the Cast Metals Coalition, AFS A distributed file system for large, widely dispersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carnegie-Mellon's Andrew File System. AFS - Andrew File System is working to secure additional metalcasting research funding Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and in Congress for the Metalcasting Industries of the Future (IOF IOF Imposto Sobre Operacoes Financeiras (Brazil) IOF International Orienteering Federation IOF Independent Order of Foresters IOF Interactive Output Facility IOF Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering ) program. Managed by the U.S. Dept. of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy The United States Department of Energy´s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) mission is to strengthen America's energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality in public-private partnerships. , the program is a public-private partnership Public-private partnership (PPP) describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP or P3. that cost shares pre-competitive energy efficiency research designed to make revolutionary improvements in metalcasting processes. In February, the Bush Administration reduced its request for Metalcasting IOF funding from the enacted level of $4.1 million in FY2004 to $2 million in FY2005. The program received $5.3 million in FY2003. To persuade Congress to restore the cuts to metalcasting research, AFS members lobbied their representatives and senators. The message delivered was that a restoration of metalcasting funding to at least $4.1 million is vital for the current and future status of the program. If the proposed cuts are implemented by Congress, many existing research projects would shut down, and no new research would be undertaken in the coming year. In addition, there also would be a strong possibility that DOE would interpret the cuts as a sign that lawmakers no longer support metalcasting research and would steer the program toward elimination. As a sign of the strong, bipartisan support for metalcasting research in Congress, AFS members successfully obtained the signatures of 18 representatives and 12 senators on letters to the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, which decide on funding levels for the Metalcasting IOF program and look to such letters for an indication of the level of support a program has among lawmakers. The House Appropriations Committee In the United States government, the Appropriations Committee can refer to either:
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