By Jennifer Zeitzer

As the Appropriations Committees begin the process of determining fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding levels for federal agencies, a new FASEB e-action alert generated 6,500 emails to Congress in support of increased research funding in just 72 hours. “We are very grateful to the research community for responding so quickly to FASEB’s call-to-action and are proud to be leading this effort,” said President Margaret K. Offermann, MD, PhD.

FASEB’s alert urges advocates to contact their senators and representatives and ask them to submit requests to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in support of FASEB’s FY 2015 funding recommendations of $32 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and $7.6 billion for the National Science Foundation. Individual funding requests from members of Congress are a very important factor in the funding decisions made by the Appropriations Committees.

The alert also urges House members to sign a “Dear Colleague” letter authored by Representatives David McKinley (R-WV), Peter King (R-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), and Susan Davis (D-CA) to the Appropriations Committee requesting $32 billion for NIH. To date, more than 80 representatives have signed the letter.

Emails sent in response to the FASEB alert reached 98 out of 100 senators and 326 members of the House. Advocates from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas were the most active responders, generating several hundred emails each to their respective members of Congress. The alert has also prompted nearly 400 new advocates to join FASEB’s e-action list.

Everyone in the research community is encouraged to share the FASEB alert with their networks. It’s not too late to act. Those interested in receiving FASEB alerts can subscribe to the e-action list by clicking here.