[NHCOLL-L:955] Doubling NSF Budget

[Roberta Faul-Zeitler]

March 19, 2001

Doubling Effort Needs Help !
A Note from ASC (Natural Science Collections Alliance)

ASC distributed an electronic alert last week to CEOS and representatives at
all of our member institutions and society affiliates to support the NSF
"doubling" effort -- i.e. to double NSF appropriations within five
consecutive years.

The chairman and ranking member of the Senate VA/HUD appropriations
subcommittee, Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)are once
again circulating a Dear Colleague letter, asking other senators to cosign a
letter supporting a doubling of the National Science Foundation budget over
five years. Last year's effort yielded some 34 Senators who signed onto the
letter, although the number of Republicans was lower than anticipated.

We encourage you to discuss this with your CEO, vice chancellor or ASC
representative as a reminder to ask them to act NOW. Asking your Senator to
cosign the letter really will help make a difference -- especially in light
of the meager 1% proposed increase proposed for FY 2002.

Thanks. Bobbie

**********

Following is the text of the Dear Colleague letter (from Bond-Milkulski) and
the text of the letter for which signatures are being sought:

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

March 12, 2001

Dear Colleague:

Last year, 41 senators agreed to co-sign a letter to Majority Leader Lott
and Democratic Leader Daschle proposing that the budget of the National
Science Foundation (NSF) should be doubled over a five-year period.  In the
fiscal year 2001 appropriation, this important agency received a significant
increase that could start it down the road toward doubling its budget.

We continue to believe that investing in basic research should be a keystone
of our strategy for economic growth, a better-educated workforce,
technological leadership, improved public health, prevention of disease, and
national security.  As the only federal agency whose primary mission is to
support fundamental scientific research, NSF is best positioned to advance
this strategy.  For these reasons, we are asking once again for your
signature on the enclosed letter to the two Senate leaders.

To sign the letter, or if there are any questions, please contact Cheh Kim
of Senator Bond's staff at 224-7858 or Paul Carliner of Senator Mikulski's
staff at 224-7231.

Thank you for considering this.

Sincerely,
Christopher S. "Kit" Bond
U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
U.S. Senator

LETTER TO BE COSIGNED

(date)
 Senator Trent Lott
Majority Leader
S-230 Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Tom Daschle
Democratic Leader
S-221 Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Majority Leader Lott and Democratic Leader
Daschle: We are writing as longtime supporters of investments in fundamental
research and education -- the building blocks of the new economy. Just as we
have worked collectively to double the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
budget over five years, we believe that we must continue a parallel effort
to double the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) over five
years. It is our strong belief that the success of NIH's efforts to cure
deadly diseases such as cancer depends heavily on the underpinning research
supported by NSF. The NSF supports fundamental research that contributes to
the nation's health and well-being. In the fiscal year 2001 appropriation,
the Congress provided this crucial agency with the largest budget increase
in its history, which put the agency on the path of doubling its budget in
five years.  As the Council on Competitiveness has noted: "For the past 50
years, most, if not all, of the technological advances have been directly or
indirectly linked to improvements in fundamental understanding." Business
Week adds: "What's needed is a serious stimulant to basic research, which
has been lagging in recent years. Without continued gains in education and
training and new innovations and scientific findings the raw materials of
growth in the New Economy -- the technological dynamic will stall." NSF's
impact over the past half century has been monumental -- especially in the
field of medical technologies and research. The investments have also
spawned not only new products, but also entire industries, such as
biotechnology, Internet providers, E-commerce, and geographic information
systems. Medical technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging,
ultrasound, digital mammography and genomic mapping could not have occurred,
and cannot now improve to the next level of proficiency, without underlying
knowledge from NSF- supported work in biology, physics, chemistry,
mathematics, engineering, and computer sciences. In 1993, NSF support made
it possible to detect the cause of a deadly hantavirus outbreak in the
American Southwest. NSF-supported research on plants led to the discovery of
Taxol, a derivative of Yew trees that is effective against certain cancers.
The benefits of NSF research to medical science and technology has been
recognized by leading doctors such as the former heads of the NIH, Harold
Varmus and Bernadette Healy, and the President of the Institute of Medicine,
Kenneth Shine. New NSF support for research in nanotechnology, high-speed
computing, plant genome research, biocomplexity, and cognitive neuroscience
will further advance the state of technological change and improve our
quality of life through creation of new products, a better understanding of
how humans behave, and how our ecological systems can survive.  Furthermore,
every generation requires a group of skilled and innovative scientists and
engineers to make the new discoveries that propel society into the future.
NSF's educational programs from pre-kindergarten to graduate school train
the next generation of inventors and discoverers For industry, this is the
best type of technology transfer.

Lastly, NSF programs have become important resources for broadening the
participation of under-represented groups such as minorities and women in
the fields of science, math, and engineering.  Further, NSF programs such as
the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the
Innovation Partnerships program have become critical resources for
strengthening the research and development infrastructure of many rural and
small states.   Senators may disagree about the precise mix of fiscal and
monetary policies that will ensure a continuation of America's current
economic prosperity. But there is a growing consensus that investing in
fundamental scientific research is one of the best things we can do to keep
our nation economically strong. This fact has been recognized by Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, NASDAQ President Alfred Berkeley, the
Committee for Economic Development, and many other widely respected experts.
For all these reasons, we hope you will join us in continuing a five-year
goal of doubling the budget of National Science Foundation by fiscal year
2005.

Sincerely, Christopher S. "Kit" Bond
U.S. Senator

Barbara A. Mikulski
U.S. Senator




Roberta Faul-Zeitler
Executive Director
Association of Systematics Collections
1725 K Street NW, Suite 601
Washington DC 20006
Tel. (202) 835-9050
FAX (202) 835-7334
Email: faulzeitler at ascoll.org
ASC is changing its name to the Natural Science Collections Alliance in
Spring 2001.