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FW: Message from ASP Office of Public Affairs



Dear All,
I know this may not directly effect many of you but this is very
important for the physics community as a whole. I am a graduate student
funded directly from DOE funds and most of the research I know about is
either NSF or DOE funded. Those agencies will get their funding from
these agencies. For those who do not know, the funding for many physics
education experiments and enrichment programs for high school teachers
also come from the DOE and NSF.
So please write your senator about this problem. This e-mail
listed mine, but you should seek out your's. Cuts in funding will
effect all areas and those teacher programs and programs for hiring your
students in the summers may disappear as the running of the national
labs will be the main priorities.
Thanks for your time and help.

Sam Held

*********************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: opa@aps.org [mailto:opa@aps.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 1:52 PM
To: sheld@utk.edu
Subject: Message from APS Office of Public Affairs


To: APS Member
From: Jerome Friedman, APS President
Sub: !!!!! SCIENCE BUDGET ALERT !!!!!

Within the next two weeks, the Senate Budget Committee will
release its bill. The funding levels in this bill are the
starting points for the Fiscal Year 2000 appropriations
process. CURRENT DRAFTS OF THE BILL MARK SCIENCE FOR FLAT
FUNDING. I urge you to contact your Senator and request an
increase to this mark.

BACKGROUND
The so-called "Function 250" category of the budget bill
identifies the total amount of money that can be spent on
science programs, including NASA, NSF and the basic research
programs at the Department of Energy. Currently, the proposed
funding for this category is $19.3 billion. This represents an
increase of $500 million, or 2.6 percent, over the FY 1999 level
of $18.8 billion. When adjusted for inflation, it is flat
funding! However, the number is only a proposal and is subject
to change.

You are a constituent of Senator Bill Frist. The Senator is a
key member of the Budget Committee and last year supported bill
S. 2217, the Federal Research Investment Act. This popular
bipartisan legislation passed in the Senate, but no counter-part
was generated in the House. It has been re-introduced this year
as S. 296 and again it seeks to double the total federal
investment in research and development over the next twelve
years. (To read the bill go to <http://thomas.loc.gov> and type
S. 296 into the search box.)

I urge you to contact the Senator's office. It is appropriate
to compliment the Senator for supporting the Federal Research
Investment Act, but it should be pointed out that flat funding
for science is inconsistent with the Act's wise goal. The path
toward doubling does not begin with flat funding; rather, in
accordance with the goals of S. 296, the Senate Budget Committee
should increase the Function 250 level to $19.8 billion in FY
2000.

As bill S. 296 makes clear, the fundamental scientific research
being done at NASA, NSF and the Department of Energy will lay
the groundwork for America's economic competitiveness for
generations to come. In addition, future advances in biomedical
science depend upon continuing investments in the non-medical
sciences, including molecular biology, chemistry, physics,
mathematics, engineering and the social and behavioral
sciences. Doubling the federal investment in scientific
research is imperative to America's future quality of life and
economic strength. Importantly, it would be good to tell the
Senator's staff about the research at your institution and why
it benefits the state.

CONTACT INFO
The key staff member for Senator Bill Frist is Ms. Meredith Medley.
You can reach the staffer at (202) 224-3344.

Letters should be formatted as:

The Honorable Bill Frist
567 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Attn: Ms. Meredith Medley

{If you are interested in being contacted about science-related
activities in Congress, please send a return e-mail and ask to
be put on the Physics and Government Network (PGNet).}