AAS ACTION ALERT 2005-01
Mailed to US members from aas.org at 12:50pm 12 APRIL 2005] ___________________________________________________________
AAS ACTION ALERT 2005-1
David Black, Chair of AAS Committee on Astronomy and
Public Policy and
Kevin B. Marvel, Deputy Executive Officer
Summary
This Action Alert calls upon AAS members to call or FAX
their member of Congress and ask that they sign onto the
Ehlers-Holt NSF Dear Colleague Letter. A sample phone
Conversation and FAX are provided at the end of this alert
along with a link to the letter itself and the cover letter
sent by Ehlers and Holt to their colleagues. Constituent
pressure leads to members of Congress signing onto these
letters. Please help Mr. Ehlers and Mr. Holt as they try
to help the NSF.
Background
Each year members of Congress try and encourage their
colleagues to support various projects, bills or priorities
by distributing so-called "Dear Colleague" letters. The
goal of the letters is to gain a large number of cosigners
so that the topic of the letter gains in significance in
the halls of Congress.
Representative Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Hold (D-NJ)
have developed a Dear Colleague Letter to the Leadership of
the House Appropriations Committee responsible for
funding NSF. They call on this committee to support NSF at
a level of $6.1 billion in FY 2OO6.
A PDF version of the letter is available at http://www.aas.org/policy/NSFFY06request.pdf.
A PDF version of the cover letter that Ehlers and Holt
distributed to their colleagues is located at http://www.aas.org/policy/NSFFY06Cover.pdf.
Details
The deadline for members of Congress to sign onto this
letter is April 22. With such a short amount of time
available, normal letters to members will not be useful.
AAS members are encouraged to call or FAX their
Representative requesting that they sign onto the
Ehlers-Holt Dear Colleague. A sample phone conversation
and FAX are included below for reference. It is strongly
recommended that AAS members modify these communications to
meet their own style and personal details. It makes
such communications much more useful.
You can get the phone number and fax number of your member
of Congress through the AAS Zip-To-It feature, available
at http://www.aas.org/policy/aas.bios.html
SAMPLE PHONE CONVERSATION
Staffer: Hello, Congressman King's office, can I help you.
Astronomer: Yes, I would like to speak with a staffer
about the National Science Foundation.
Staffer: OK, I will see if she is in right now. <pause>
She can speak with you now [note; you may get voice mail,
leave same message as the next bit of conversation]
Sci.Staffer: Hello, I'm Suzy Snapdragon and I'm responsible
for NSF issues...how can I help you?
Astronomer: Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a
constituent of Congressman King's. I am calling to ask that
she sign onto the Ehlers-Holt NSF Dear Colleague letter.
This letter calls for an FY2006 funding level for NSF of
$6.1 billion. I think this is a very important issue and
I hope that the Congressman can sign on.
Sci. Staffer; I hadn't heard about this letter yet, can you
tell me more about it?
Astronomer: I have a link to the letter I can email you,
but it might be better if you call either Congressman
Ehlers' or Holt's offices for details and to sign on. Julia
Warner in Ehler's office (x53831) and Valerie Thomas
(x55801) in Holt's office are handling the letter.
Sci. Staffer: Great, I'll call them to find out more.
Astronomer: Good. If I can be of any help in the future
just let me know. I work at the University in the
Congressman's district and have use telescopes supported by
NSF or have received grant money from the NSF in the past.
It is really important for our country that NSF be funded
better in the future.
SAMPLE FAX
Office of Representative King
202-444-5555
Dear Representative King,
I am writing to ask that you sign onto the Ehlers-Holt NSF
Dear Colleague letter. This letter calls for an FY2006
funding level for NSF of $6.1 billion.
As a constituent and scientist, I feel that this funding
level for NSF is necessary and justified. NSF supports a
wide range of basic research, including astronomy. The NSF
supports telescopes, which are available to all US
astronomers for use as well as supporting graduate
students, postdoctoral researchers and also public outreach
and education activities.
Our nation needs an NSF that is well-funded. Many proposals
to NSF that are ranked highly are turned away each year
simply due to lack of funds. With a budget of $6.1 billion,
NSF could support a larger fraction of these excellent
proposals as well as supporting ongoing scientific
research, education programs and instruments.
Please sign onto the Ehlers-Holt Dear Colleague letter.
Julia Warner in Ehler's office (x53831) and Valerie Thomas
(x55801) in Holt's office are available for your staff to
find out more and to collect your signature.
If I can be of any help to you in the future, please do not
hesitate to call on me. I am a professor at Pipsqueak
University, in your district where I teach astronomy and
perform research supported in part by the NSF.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Stahrs R. Twinklin
___________________________________________________________
Mailed to US members from aas.org at 11:45am
12 April 2005
To read previous AAS Informational Emails visit
www.aas.org/policy/InformationalEmails.html
To read previous AAS Action Alerts visit
www.aas.org/policy/ActionAlerts.html
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