ABRAHAM RIBICOFF, CONN., CHAIRMAN
HENRY M. JACKSON, WASH. CHARLES H. PERCY, ILL.
THOMAS F, EAGLETON, MO. JACOB K. JAVITS, N.Y.
LAWTON CHILES, FLA. WILLIAM V, ROTH, JR., DEL.

NUNN, GA. TED STEVENS, ALASKA
JOH: GLENN, OHIO CHARLES MC C. MATHIAS, JR., MD.
JIM ISASSER, TENN. JOHN C, DANFORTH, MO. °
DAVID H. PRYOR, ARK. WILLIAM S, COHEN, MAINE aI { Q Dt £ m5)
CARL LEVIN, MICH. DAVID DURENBERGER, MINN. Wile ates ewwv

RICHARD A. WEGMAN

CHIEF COUNSEL AND STAFF DIRECTOR COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510

 

July 14, 1980

Joshua Lederberg, President
The Rockefeller University
1230 York Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10021

Dear Dr. Lederberg:

It was indeed a pleasure to be with you at the
Harrimans' a few weeks ago, and I particularly wanted to
thank you for following up with the letter and the report
on The Rockefeller University.

Too much of our research has grown to be looked at
as waste effort in this country, and it is a trend we must
absolutely reverse if we are to keep our preeminence among
the nations of the world. There was an excellent book, of
some ten years vintage by now, called "The American Challenge,"
by Jacques Servant-Schreiber, the French journalist and
government official whose theme was that America went ahead
of the rest of the world in a very short time period of
history--not on the tremendous resources we had, but mainly
because of our willingness to put greater effort into re-
search and inquiry into the unknown than any other people in
history. That, combined with our free enterprise system,
led us to a preeminence among nations in a comparatively
short time. I am afraid that in these‘days some other nations
may be nurturing this goose that laid the golden egg more care-
fully than we are doing, at least as a percent of GNP. I
believe the current figures are that our spending on research
as a percent of GNP has declined some 23% in the last ten years,
while Germany has gone up 45% and Japan has gone up some 65%.
We are beginning to reap the results of that in our lessened
preeminence in international trade, productivity, etc., and
that is a trend that must be reversed. I know that your
very basic research there at Rockefeller does not deal pri-
marily in those areas, but I was extremely interested in your
remarks at the Harrimans', and I look forward to seeing you
again one of these days.

Best regards.

  

United States Senator