May 23, 2017

Dear Members of Congress,

As leading scientific organizations in the biological sciences, we urge you to make strong investments in scientific research and education in fiscal year 2018, and to reject the deep cuts to federal research programs proposed in the President's budget request.

Research is an important engine that powers our economy. Over the past 50 years, roughly half of our nation's private sector economic growth has resulted from research and development.

Analysis of the return on the federal government's $12 billion investment in the Human Genome Project found that it generated an estimated $800 billion in economic return. Other economic analyses of investments in agricultural research have estimated a $10 return on every $1 the federal government invests. These are just some examples and others may be found in a recent report from the American Institute of Biological Sciences (see https://www.aibs.org/public-policy/resources/AIBS_Biological_Innovation_Report.pdf). In short, taxpayer support of scientific research pays dividends.

The federal government provides more than half of the funding for basic research in the United States. Indeed, industry counts on the federal government to support fundamental discovery so that the private sector may target its resources to new product development. For example, 80,000 patents awarded over a 10-year period were based on research initially funded by the National Science Foundation.

Although the United States has long been a global leader in science, our leadership is waning. Foreign countries are allocating growing shares of their Gross Domestic Product to research and development. New investments in federal research programs must be a priority if we are to remain a global scientific power.

The budget cuts outlined by the Administration for 2018 would set back American innovation for years. Funding rates for programs that support foundational biological research are already extremely low, with roughly four out of five research proposals rejected by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The proposed budget would slash these funding rates even further for researchers at universities, colleges, marine labs, field stations, biological collections, and other non-profit research centers. Research conducted at federal labs would be harmed by likely staff reductions and cuts to research budgets.

Congress has shown bipartisan leadership by advancing science and thus stimulating American innovation and entrepreneurship. Please continue to demonstrate this bipartisan national leadership as Congress makes fiscal year 2018 appropriations.

Sincerely,

American Institute of Biological Sciences

American Arachnological Society

American Ornithological Society

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

American Society of Mammalogists

American Society of Naturalists

American Society of Plant Biologists

American Society of Primatologists

Animal Behavior Society

Association of Ecosystem Research Centers

Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina

BioQUEST

Botanical Research Institute of Texas

Botanical Society of America

Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation

Delaware Museum of Natural History

Entomological Collections Network

Entomological Society of America

Florida Atlantic University

Human Anatomy and Physiology Society

National Tropical Botanical Garden

Natural Science Collections Alliance

Organization of Biological Field Stations

Paleontological Society

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

San Diego Natural History Museum

Sitka Sound Science Center

Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

Society for Mathematical Biology

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Society for the Study of Evolution

Society of Systematic Biologists

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Society of Wetland Scientists

Southern Appalachian Botanical Society

Southwestern Association of Naturalists

The Coleopterists Society

US Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology

Weed Science Society of America

Willi Hennig Society

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