Joint Statement on Science and Technology

March 4, 1997

As the federal government proceeds to develop its spending plans for Fiscal Year 1998, we call upon the President and Members of Congress to renew the nation's historical commitment to scientific research and education by providing the requisite funding for the federal agencies charged with these responsibilities. Our call is based upon two fundamental principles that are well accepted by policy makers in both political parties.

• The federal investment in scientific research is vital to four national goals: our economic competitiveness, our medical health, our national security and our quality of life.

• Scientific disciplines are interdependent; therefore, a comprehensive approach to science funding provides the greatest opportunity for reaching these goals.

We strongly believe that for our nation to meet the challenges of the next century, agencies charged with carrying out scientific research and education require increases in their respective research budgets in the range of 7 percent for Fiscal Year 1998. These agencies include, among others, the NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD, and NASA. The increases we call for strike a balance between the current fiscal pressures and the need to invest in activities that enable long-term economic growth and productivity. Such increases would only partially restore the inflationary losses that most of these agencies suffered during the last few years.

Prudent planning argues for strengthening the respective activities of major research agencies, as already recognized in pending legislation. To constrain still further federal spending on their scientific programs would jeopardize the future well being of our nation.

ENDORSED BY PRESIDENTS OF:

American Association of Crystal Growth
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Astronomical Society
American Chemical Society
American Geological Institute
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Professional Geologists
American Mathematical Society
American Psychological Association
The American Physical Society
American Society of Engineering Education
American Society for Mass Spectrometry
American Statistical Association
American Vacuum Society
Association for Women in Mathematics
Association for Women in Science
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Council of Scientific Society Presidents
Council on Undergraduate Research
The Ecological Society of America
ASEE Engineering Deans Council
EPSCoR Foundation
Estuarine Research Federation
Federation of Materials Societies
Geological Society of America
Health Physics Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc.
Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences
The International Society for Optical Engineering
Materials Research Society
Mathematical Association of America
The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society
Optical Society of America
Psychonomic Society
Radiation Research Society
Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Soil Science Society of America
Southeastern Universities Research Association
University Materials Council