June 10, 2015
Our thanks to David Lindsay, Manager, Government Affairs at SAA, for the following information:
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a reauthorization bill for National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. This bill (H.R. 1806) would make a 45 percent reduction in NSF’s research funding for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The next stop for the bill is the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. It is vitally important that you contact your Senators about this pending legislation. Members of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee are:
Republican Members
Democratic Members
Even if your Senators are not on this Committee, you should still contact them and encourage them to speak to their colleagues on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Two draft letters are below:
If your senator IS on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:
Dear Senator [NAME],
I am one of your constituents, living in [CITY]. I am writing to you because you sit on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, to urge you to assure that the National Science Foundation receives its full funding this year, and that the Committee takes its traditional approach to funding NSF: letting its scientists decide how best to allocate research dollars.
The House has passed the COMPETES Act (H.R. 1806), which includes a targeted, 45% budget cut to the Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. I believe this is not only a dangerous break with congressional relations with NSF but also not in the national interest. SBE programs foster a better understanding of how the brain works, how to deliver food, water, and energy to people, how people in the past coped with climate change, and how cultural diversity interacts with today’s pressing issues. We cannot afford as a nation to play politics with this kind of research. Thank you for keeping all of NSF well-funded.
If your Senator is NOT on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:
Dear Senator [NAME],
I am one of your constituents, living in [CITY]. I am writing to you to urge you to talk with your colleagues on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, to ask them to assure that the National Science Foundation receives its full funding this year, and that the Committee takes its traditional approach to funding NSF: letting its head scientists decide how best to allocate research dollars.
The House has passed the COMPETES Act (H.R. 1806), which includes a targeted, 45% budget cut to the Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. I believe this is not only a dangerous break with congressional relations with NSF but also not in the national interest. SBE programs foster a better understanding of how the brain works, how to deliver food, water, and energy to people, how people in the past coped with climate change, and how cultural diversity interacts with today’s pressing issues. We cannot afford as a nation to play politics with this kind of research. Thank you for encouraging your colleagues to keep all of NSF well-funded.
