Jack O. Burns, Chair Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy
and
Kevin B. Marvel, Deputy Executive Officer
Summary
Congressmen Vernon Ehlers
(R-MI) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) have written a letter to the appropriations
committee responsible for funding NSF, the Subcommittee on Science, State,
Justice and Commerce, asking that they provide $6.02B for NSF, as proposed by
the President.
Such letters gain importance through the number of other
members of the House willing to co-sign the document. Currently, the letter has
116 co-signers, listed below.
AAS members are encouraged to check this
list to see if their Representative (go to http://www.aas.org/policy/aas.bios.html
to find out who your Representative is), and call their Representative before
MARCH 31, 2006 and ask them to co-sign the Ehlers-Holt NSF Dear Colleague
letter.
Staff members for your Representative may contact either Mr.
Ehler's staffer or Holt's staffer [Julia Warner in Rep. Ehlers' office (x53831)
or Deborah Koolbeck in Rep. Holt's office (x55801)] to sign up prior to close of
business on 31 March.
If AAS members can generate even just a handful of
additional co-signers, we will increase our profile among the various science
societies participating in this effort and directly benefit the NSF
budget.
List of Co-signers as of 17 March 2006
Rep. Neil
Abercrombie
Rep. Gary Ackerman
Rep. Tom Allen
Rep. Robert
Andrews
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett
Rep. Shelley
Berkley
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. Judy Biggert
Rep. Tim Bishop
Rep.
Sherwood Boehlert
Rep. Jo Bonner
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo
Rep. Rick
Boucher
Rep. Robert Brady
Rep. Sherrod Brown
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep.
Lois Capps
Rep. Michael Capuano
Rep. Ben Cardin
Rep. Dennis
Cardoza
Rep. Russ Carnahan
Rep. Ben Chandler
Rep. William Lacy
Clay
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver
Rep John Conyers
Rep. Jim
Cooper
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. Jerry Costello
Rep. Lincoln Davis
Rep.
Peter DeFazio
Rep. Diana DeGette
Rep. William Delahunt
Rep. Rosa
DeLauro
Rep. Charlie Dent
Rep. John Dingell
Rep. Mike Doyle
Rep.
Vern Ehlers
Rep. Eliot Engel
Rep. Phil English
Rep. Anna Eshoo
Rep.
Bob Etheridge
Rep. Barney Frank
Rep. Jim Gerlach
Rep. Wayne
Gilchrest
Rep. Charles Gonzalez
Rep. Al Green
Rep. Raul
Grijalva
Rep. Gil Gutknecht
Rep. Ralph Hall
Rep. Katherine
Harris
Rep. JD Hayworth
Rep. Stephanie Herseth
Rep. Maurice
Hinchey
Rep Rush Holt
Rep. Mike Honda
Rep. Darlene Hooley
Rep.
Bob Inglis
Rep. E.B. Johnson
Rep Tim Johnson
Rep. Sue
Kelly
Rep. Dave Kildee
Rep. Ron Kind
Rep John Larson
Rep. Jim
Leach
Rep. Sander Levin
Rep. John Lewis
Rep. Dan Lipinski
Rep. Zoe
Lofgren
Rep. Stephen Lynch
Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Rep. Doris
Matsui
Rep. Thad McCotter
Rep Jim McDermott
Rep. James McGovern
Rep.
Mike McIntyre
Rep. Michael McNulty
Rep. Gregory Meeks
Rep. Michael
Michaud
Rep. Brad Miller
Rep. Dennis Moore
Rep. Gwen Moore
Rep. Jim
Moran
Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. James Oberstar
Rep.
Tom Osborne
Rep. Major Owens
Rep. Frank Pallone
Rep. Bill
Pascrell
Rep. Donald Payne
Rep. Jon Porter
Rep. David Price
Rep.
Nick Rahall
Rep. Charles Rangel
Rep. David Reichert
Rep. Silvestre
Reyes
Rep. Mike Rogers
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger
Rep. Bobby Rush
Rep.
Bernard Sanders
Rep. Adam Schiff
Rep. Allyson Schwartz
Rep. Joe
Schwarz
Rep. Adam Smith
Rep. Lamar Smith
Rep. Vic Snyder
Rep. Pete
Stark
Rep. Bart Stupak
Rep. Ellen Tauscher
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep.
Tom Udall
Rep Chris Van Hollen
Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Lynn
Woolsey
Rep. David Wu
The Text of the Ehlers-Holt NSF Letter to
House Appropriators
Dear Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member
Mollohan:
Thank you very much for your leadership in increasing federal
funding for basic science research. As supporters of scientific research and
education, we respectfully ask that you make the National Science Foundation
(NSF) funding a priority again and provide $6.02 billion in your fiscal year
2007 Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) Subcommittee appropriations
legislation. This is the level requested by the President's budget.
In
previous years, we have made a similar bipartisan request along with many of our
colleagues, seeking increased funding for an agency that has suffered budget
stagnation and even a budget cut in fiscal year 2005. This year, however, we are
heartened that the budget request for the NSF includes a substantial increase
for the "high-leverage fields of physical sciences and engineering" as part of
the proposed American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). This boost in funding
would allow for new innovative technologies to be developed by NSF scientists
and engineers. While we lament that in previous years we fell far short of the
authorized levels of funding for NSF, we believe that meeting the President's
request for NSF in fiscal year 2007 represents the first year of a ten-year
commitment to the doubling of the NSF budget.
The proposed ACI
focuses funding on scientific research and facilities at NSF that fuel
innovation. Clearly the government plays a role in innovation, as two-thirds of
U.S.
patents cite federal funding as their source of support. Federally
funded basic research has cultivated groundbreaking technologies, such as
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), global positioning systems (GPS), human genome
mapping, lasers, fiber optics and many, many more.
NSF research supports
technologies that are later applied by other agencies, ranging from Doppler
radar, which has saved many lives through accurate weather forecasts, to
laser-guided weapons, which have revolutionized combat. Recently, NSF has
pioneered cutting-edge research in cyberinfrastructure, the information
technology-based infrastructure increasingly essential to science and
engineering leadership in the 21st Century. As other nations are significantly
increasing their funding of basic research, the U.S. must recognize that
leadership in science and technology is not something we can take for
granted.
NSF is also a key supporter of Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) education. Now, more than ever, we must invest in our
children's education to develop their talent, ensure their success, and maintain
the quality of our workforce and economic strength. NSF, with its expertise in
merit-review awards, is uniquely positioned to contribute to math and science
education and directly impact our nation's competitiveness. Elementary, middle-
and high-school students participating in the NSF Math and Science Partnership
(MSP) program showed significant improvements in mathematics proficiency test
scores, according to a first analysis of results. NSF education endeavors are
complementary to those of the Department of Education, as NSF research provides
the foundation for much of the applications promoted by the Department of
Education. In the words of Craig Barrett, the Chairman of the Intel Corporation,
"If you look at the driving forces for today's economy, it happens to be the
high-tech area. You can't be successful in those fields if you don't have a
workforce that understands mathematics and science." We strongly support the
educational mission of the NSF, and request that if it is possible to devote any
additional funds from other agency portions of your allocation, they would be
added to the President's request for the education directorate (EHR) of
NSF.
We recognize this significant increase is requested at a time when
other agencies with the SSJC account may be suffering cuts. Please preserve
funding for the NSF at the level requested by the President, and do not allow
the NSF portion of the ACI to be depleted by competing interests.
Though NSF
receives only four percent of the total federal research and development budget,
it is the bedrock of our scientific strength and provides the basis for
innovation and development throughout our economy.
We respectfully request that you fund NSF at the President's requested level of $6.02 billion in
fiscal year 2007. We cannot afford to shortchange the fundamental sciences on
which our future and our children's future depend.
Mailed to US members from aas.org 17 March 2006
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
Comments and questions to: mailto:marvel@aas.org
To unsubscribe or
change address contact mailto:address@aas.org