Dear Friend of ASTRA:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED: The House Leadership has moved quickly to increase funding for key scientific and engineering agencies as part of the latest economic stimulus package, now called the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Very significant increases over FY 2009 Continuing Resolution ("C.R.") amounts are proposed for key science agencies. These include:

+$3 billion for the National Science Foundation;

+ $1.9 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science; and

+ $300 million for the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST).

Both the R&D and education provisions of the new House initiative harmonize with President-elect Obama's promise to enhance innovation by providing short-term stimulus spending where it is needed, while providing a long-term basis for economic growth.

Further, the House provisions recapture much of the funding that was authorized, but never appropriated , under the bipartisan and ASTRA-supported America COMPETES Act of 2007. For more details about current science spending, as well as the House science and engineering stimulus package, see our latest analysis at:

www.usinnovation.org/files/ASTRAHouseScienceStimulus09.pdf

ACTIONS REQUESTED: Time is of the essence. A vote is expected as early as Wednesday, January 21.

1. Please send a support letter from you or an organization you may belong to similar to ASTRA's letter from Wayne Johnson to Speaker Pelosi of Jan. 17, 2009. It can be found at this link:

www.usinnovation.org/files/ASTRAPelosiStimulusJan1709.pdf

2. Please contact the House Leadership in both parties immediately by phone or e-mail. Tell them that you support the Democratic Leadership's R&D funding provisions of the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Your opinion matters and it will be logged in by staff trained to take such calls or tally e-mail communications.

Here are links that contain the numbers to call and e-mail contacts:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

http://speaker.gov/contact/

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

http://www.johnboehner.house.gov/Contact/



Rep. David Obey (D-WI)

Chairman, House Appropriations Committee

www.obey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=637&Itemid=187

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)

Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee

http://www.house.gov/jerrylewis/IMA/WritetoRepresentativeLewis.htm

Rep. George Miller (D-CA)

Chairman, House Committee on Education & Labor

http://georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/2007/08/post_1.html

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA)

Ranking Member, House Committee on Education & Labor

http://mckeon.house.gov/lets_talk.shtml

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN)

Chairman, House Committee on Science & Technology

http://gordon.house.gov/contact/contact_form.shtml

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX)

Ranking Member

House Committee on Science & Technology

http://www.house.gov/ralphhall/contact.htm

Also, please contact Members of the House Appropriations Committee, to tell them of your support - especially if you have a constituent relationship with them. Just click-through on the hyperlinks contained in the list below to make a phone call and/or send an e-mail message.

Thank you,

Wayne Johnson and Robert S. Boege

for the ASTRA Board of Directors

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Members of the House Appropriations Committee (this is the latest list provided by the U.S. House Web Site and may not be current)

Democrats

David R. Obey, Wisconsin, Chair

John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania

Norman D. Dicks, Washington

Alan B. Mollohan, West Virginia

Marcy Kaptur, Ohio

Peter J. Visclosky, Indiana

Nita M. Lowey, New York

José E. Serrano, New York

Rosa L. DeLauro, Connecticut

James P. Moran, Virginia

John W. Olver, Massachusetts

Ed Pastor, Arizona

David E. Price, North Carolina

Chet Edwards, Texas

Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, Jr., Alabama

Patrick J. Kennedy, Rhode Island

Maurice D. Hinchey, New York

Lucille Roybal-Allard, California

Sam Farr, California

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois

Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Michigan

Allen Boyd, Florida

Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania

Steven R. Rothman, New Jersey

Sanford Bishop, Georgia

Marion Berry, Arkansas

Barbara Lee, California

Tom Udall, New Mexico

Adam Schiff, California

Michael Honda, California

Betty McCollum, Minnesota

Steve Israel, New York

Tim Ryan, Ohio

C.A "Dutch" Ruppersberger, Maryland

Ben Chandler, Kentucky

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Ciro Rodriguez, Texas



Republicans

Jerry Lewis, California, Ranking Member

C.W. Bill Young, Florida

Ralph Regula, Ohio

Harold Rogers, Kentucky

Frank R. Wolf, Virginia

James T. Walsh, New York

David L. Hobson, Ohio

Joe Knollenberg, Michigan

Jack Kingston, Georgia

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey

Todd Tiahrt, Kansas

Zach Wamp, Tennessee

Tom Latham, Iowa

Robert B.Aderholt, Alabama

Jo Ann Emerson, Missouri

Kay Granger, Texas

John E. Peterson, Pennsylvania

Dave Weldon, Florida

Michael K. Simpson, Idaho

John Abney Culberson, Texas

Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois

Ander Crenshaw, Florida

Dennis R. Rehberg, Montana

John Carter, Texas

Rodney Alexander, Louisiana

Ken Calvert, California

Jo Bonner, Alabama

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE ON TO OTHERS:

This message has been sent to approximately 33,000 scientists, engineers, university employees, students, technology workers, policy makers, researchers and others on our "Friends" list. An estimated 150,000 people will be contacted by this message, and we urge you to send it on to any friends, associates and family who may share our interest in passing this critically important legislative measure .

Thank you!

Robert S. Boege

Executive Director

ASTRA, The Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America

1155 16th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

202/872-6160

202/320-8836

rboege@comcast.net

www.usinnovation.org