ACS Joins Request to Complete FY23 Appropriations

October 27, 2022

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Chair
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Richard Shelby
Vice Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Kay Granger
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair DeLauro, and Ranking Member Granger:

On behalf of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) – an alliance of over 140 professional organizations, scientific societies, universities, and businesses united in our advocacy for the National Science Foundation (NSF) – we urge you to complete appropriations for FY 2023 before the end of the calendar year and to fund NSF at the highest level possible. NSF investments are key to bolstering U.S. innovation and competitiveness by funding highly meritorious curiosity-driven research; building and fostering U.S. STEM education and workforce programs; supporting scientists and engineers with cutting-edge facilities; and addressing the most pressing issues of our time.

Thank you for your efforts to increase investment in the NSF in FY 2023 appropriations. We are grateful both the Senate and House bills propose substantial NSF funding in FY 2023. As you know, the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act recently provided strong support for ambitious NSF growth and expanding the geography of innovation. The law authorizes $11.9 billion in FY 2023 to enable the expanded mission it outlines for NSF and numerous new activities. NSF will not be able to implement these fully without additional funding as specified in the Act.

Even with the Senate bill’s proposed increase for NSF to $10.338 billion, that amount would fall $1.5 billion short of the authorized levels for NSF programs. NSF would need to make tough choices about how to implement the CHIPS and Science Act activities, including the new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP). Critical programs could be at risk and exciting new programs such as the Regional Innovation Engines would be forced to delay or minimize awards, leaving regions without transformative innovation resources. Furthermore, the CHIPS and Science-proposed STEM Education activities could not be effectively launched. As envisioned in CHIPS and Science, these efforts will enable NSF to significantly enhance broadening participation programs while also protecting the education research programs that are addressing learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic and innovating to ensure our K-12 and undergraduate education systems can meet the needs of teachers and learners in a rapidly changing world.

We urge you to fund NSF as close to the authorized level of $11.9 billion in FY23 as possible and at least at the Senate level of $10.338 billion.

Thank you for your continued bipartisan support for NSF and the millions of scientists, engineers, students, and entrepreneurs it supports to advance cutting-edge research, STEM education, and technology that will benefit us all.

Sincerely,

The Coalition for National Science Funding

Association of American Medical Colleges
American Association of Physics Teachers
Agronomy, Crops, and Soil Science Societies of America
American Geophysical Union
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Geographers
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Astronomical Society
American Chemical Society
American Crystallographic Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Mathematical Society
American Physical Society
American Physiological Society
American Political Science Association
American Psychological Association
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society for Engineering Education
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Sociological Association
American Statistical Association
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Association for Psychological Science
Association for Women in Mathematics
Association of American Universities
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
Association of Science and Technology Centers
Atlanta University Center Consortium
Battelle
Biophysical Society
Boise State University
Bose Public Affairs Group
Boston University
Brandeis University
Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation
Computing Research Association
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Cornell University
Council of Graduate Schools
Council of Scientific Society Presidents
Council on Undergraduate Research
CRD Associates, LLC
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Ecological Society of America
Entomological Society of America
Eversole Associates
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Forge Policy Solutions
Geological Society of America

George Mason University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University
IEEE-USA
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
Indiana University
Lehigh University
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC
Linguistic Society of America
Materials Research Society
Mathematical Association of America
Michigan State University
Michigan Technological University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
National Postdoctoral Association
Natural Science Collections Alliance
New York University
Northwestern University
Optica (formerly OSA)
Penn State University
Princeton University
Psychonomic Society
Research!America
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
SAGE Publishing, Inc.
Saint Louis University
Seismological Society of America
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Society for Neuroscience
Society for Research in Child Development
SPIE
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stevens Institute of Technology
The Ohio State University
Tufts University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California System
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Florida
University of Illinois System
University of Iowa
University of Michigan
University of Notre Dame
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Vermont
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-Madison
US Ignite
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Washington State University
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Yale University