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Support Needed Increases in NSF 2005 Budget

Support Needed for Increases in NSF 2005 Budget

Below you will find a copy of a "Dear Colleague" sign-on letter, currently being circulated by Congressmen Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Holt (D-NJ). The letter is addressed to the Chairman of the House subcommittee which has budgetary jurisdiction over the National Science Foundation (NSF), and urges the subcommittee to fund NSF at the highest possible level in fiscal year 2005. The more Congressmen and Congresswomen that sign this letter, the more influence it will have over the subcommittee's forthcoming budget recommendations. Your help is needed to obtain these signatures.

NSF funding is vital to the health of mathematics research and mathematics education - at all levels . The NSF Authorization Act of 2002, recognizing the importance of NSF to virtually all fields of science and engineering, proposed a series of dramatic budget increases in order to double the agency in size within five years. However, the President's FY 2005 budget request for NSF is disappointing, proposing only a 3% increase for NSF. This increase would barely keep NSF ahead of inflation.

It is now up to Congress to provide NSF with a healthy increase. If you would like to support critically needed appropriations for NSF, you can contact your Congressional Representatives and urge them to sign on to the Ehlers-Holt letter . You must act quickly.

How to contact your Representative

If you do not know the name of your Representative, you can find out at this website: http://www.house.gov/writerep/. Simply enter the state and zip code of your home or your institution (Representatives are often just as interested to hear from faculty at institutions in their districts as actual constituents). Note: This letter concerns Members of the House of Representatives only. Do not contact your Senators-they will not be able to sign.

The site should return a page telling you what district you are in and the name of your Representative. Beneath that should be a form asking you for your name, address, e-mail, and phone number. Fill out this information and proceed to the next page. Note: Be sure to use the address relevant to the Representative you intend to write to—your home address if you are writing your personal Representative or your work address if you are writing the Representative for your institution. If the same Representative represents both your home and your institution, you may use either one.

The next page that comes up should have a simple text-entry field which will allow you to send a message to your Representative. Below is a sample message that you may edit.

Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. (last name):

[Open by telling the Representative your connection to his or her district-either that you live there or work at an institution there or both. Follow with a sentence or two about what you do.]

I am writing to urge you to sign on to the "Dear Colleague" letter currently being circulated by Mr. Ehlers of Michigan and Mr. Holt of New Jersey. This letter urges the highest possible funding level for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in fiscal year 2005.

NSF is vital to the health of mathematics research, applications, and education. The agency's programs support cutting edge research, the education and training of vitally important K-12 teachers of mathematics, and the education of K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students in these fields. [If you receive or have received any NSF funding, you may want to include a sentence or two about it here.]

[Check the far right column {"FY04 signers"} on the attached Excel spreadsheet below. If you see your Representative's name, that means that he or she signed last year's incarnation of the letter, and you should include the following:] I am aware that you signed a similar letter supporting NSF's budget last year, and I thank you for being such a strong supporter of this vital agency. I hope that this support will continue!

For more information and to sign onto this letter, please contact Ellen Burns in Mr. Ehlers' office at 202-225-3831 or Marty Sokoloski in Mr. Holt's office at 202-225-5801.

Sincerely,

(Your name)

Ehlers-Holt Letter (pdf format) Ehlers' Letter Cosigners (xls format)

PDF documents must be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader click here.


6/9/04 -- UPDATE - All 157 signers are listed below:

Abercrombie, Neil (D-HI, 1st)
Ackerman, Gary L. (D-NY, 5th)
Allen, Thomas H., (D-ME, 1st)
Andrews, Robert E. (D-NJ, 1st)
Baird, Brian (D-WA, 3rd)
Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI, 2nd)
Ballance, Frank (D-NC, 01)
Beauprez, Bob (R-CO, 7th)
Bell, Chris (D-TX, 25)
Berman, Howard L. (D-CA, 28th)
Biggert, Judy (R-IL, 13th)
Bishop, Tim (D-NY, 1)
Boehlert, Sherwood L. (R-NY, 24)
Boswell, Leonard L. (D-IA, 3rd)
Brady, Robert A. (D-PA, 1st)
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH, 13th)
Burgess, Michael, (R-TX, 26)
Burr, Richard (R-NC,5th)
Calvert, Ken (R-CA, 43rd)
Camp, Dave (R-MI, 4th)
Capps, Lois (D-CA, 23)
Capuano, Michael E. (D-MA, 8th)
Cardin, Benjamin L., (D-MD, 3rd)
Cardoza, Dennis (D-CA, 18)
Carter, John R. (R-TX, 31st)
Chandler, Ben (D-KY, 6th)
Clay, William (D-MO, 1st)
Conyers, John (D-MI, 14th)
Cooper, Jim (D-TN, 5)
Costello, Jerry F. (D-IL, 12th)
Cummings, Elijah E. (D-MD, 7th)
Davis, Danny K. (D-IL, 7th)
Davis, Lincoln (D-TN, 4)
Davis, Susan A. (D-CA, 49th)
Davis, Thomas M. (R-VA, 11th)
DeFazio, Peter A. (D-OR, 4th)
DeGette, Diana (D-CO, 1st)
Delahunt, William D. (D-MA, 10th)
DeLauro, Rosa L. (D-CT, 3rd)
Dingell, John D. (D-MI, 16th)
Doggett, Lloyd (D-TX, 10th)
Doyle, Mike F. (D-PA, 14th)
Ehlers, Vernon J. (R-MI, 3rd)
Engel, Eliot L. (D-NY, 17th)
English, Phil (R-PA, 3)
Eshoo, Anna G. (D-CA, 14th)
Etheridge, Bob (D-NC, 2nd)
Evans, Lane (D-IL, 17th)
Filner, Bob (D-CA, 51)
Ford, Harold E. (D-TN, 9th)
Frank, Barney (D-MA, 4th)
Frost, Martin (D-TX,24)
Gerlach, Jim (R-PA, 6th)
Gingrey, John P. (R-GA, 11th)
Gonzales, Charles A. (D-TX, 20th)
Gordon, Bart (D-TN, 6th)
Green, Gene (D-TX, 29)
Green, Mark (R-WI, 8th)
Greenwood, Jim (R-PA, 8th)
Grijalva, Raul (D-AZ, 7)
Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL, 4th)
Gutknecht, Gil (R-MN, 1)
Hall, Ralph M. (R-TX, 4th)
Hayworth, J.D. (R-AZ, 5)
Hill, Baron (D-IN, 9)
Hinchey, Maurice (D-NY, 22th)
Hinojosa, Ruben (D-TX, 15th)
Hoeffel, Joseph M. (D-PA, 13th)
Holt, Rush D. (D-NJ, 12th)
Honda, Michael M. (D-CA, 15th)
Hooley, Darlene (D-OR, 5)
Inslee, Jay (D-WA, 1st)
Israel, Steve (D-NY, 2nd)
Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D-TX, 18th)
Jefferson, William J. (D-LA, 2nd)
John, Chris (D-LA, 7th)
Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D-TX, 30th)
Johnson, Timothy V. (R-IL, 15th)
Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH, 11th)
Kildee, Dale E. (D-MI, 5)
Kind, Ron (D-WI, 3rd)
Kleczka, Jerry (D-WI, 4th)
Lampson, Nick, (D-TX, 9)
Langevin, James (D-RI, 2)
Lantos, Tom (D-CA, 12th)
Larsen, Rick (D-WA, 2nd)
Larson, John B. (D-CT, 1st)
Leach, James A. (R-IA, 2)
Lee, Barbara (D-CA, 9th)
Levin, Sander M. (D-MI, 12th)
Lewis, John (D-GA, 5th)
Lofgren, Zoe (D-CA, 16th)
Maloney, Carolyn (D-NY, 14)
Markey, Edward J. (D-MA, 7th)
Matheson, Jim (D-UT, 2)
Matsui, Robert (D-CA, 5)
McCarthy, Carolyn (D-NY, 4th)
McCarthy, Karen (D-MO, 5th)
McCollum, Betty (D-MN, 4th)
McCotter, Thad (R-MI, 11)
McDermott, Jim (D-WA, 7th)
McGovern, James P. (D-MA, 3rd)
McHugh, John M. (R-NY, 23rd)
McInnis, Scott (R-CO, 3rd)
McIntyre, Mike (D-NC, 7th)
McNulty, Michael R. (D-NY, 21st)
Meehan, Martin T. (D-MA, 5th)
Meeks, Gregory (D-NY, 6th)
Michaud, Michael (D-ME, 2)
Millender-McDonald, Juanita (D-CA, 37th)
Miller, Brad (D-NC, 13)
Miller, George (D-CA, 7)
Moore, Dennis (D-KS, 3rd)
Moran, James P. (D-VA, 8th)
Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY, 8th)
Napolitano, Grace F. (D-CA, 34rd)
Neal, Richard E. (D-MA, 2nd)
Nethercutt, George R., Jr. (R-WA, 5th)
Oberstar, James (D-MN, 8)
Owens, Major (D-NY, 11)
Pallone, Frank, Jr. (D-NJ, 6th)
Payne, Donald M. (D-NJ, 10th)
Platts, Tom (R-PA, 19th)
Price, David E. (D-NC, 4th)
Quinn, Jack (R-NY, 27)
Reyes, Silvestre (D-TX, 16th)
Rogers, Mike (R-MI, 8)
Ruppersberger, Dutch (D-MD, 2)
Rush, Bobby L. (D-IL, 1st)
Sanchez, Linda (D-CA, 39)
Sanders, Bernie (I-VT, at large)
Schakowsky, Janice (D-IL, 9)
Schiff, Adam (D-CA, 29)
Sherman, Brad (D-CA, 27)
Simmons, Rob (R-CT, 2nd)
Slaughter, Louise McIntosh (D-NY, 28th)
Smith, Adam (D-WA, 9th)
Smith, Lamar (R-TX, 21)
Smith, Nick (R-MI, 7th)
Strickland, Ted (D-OH, 6)
Stupak, Bart (D-MI, 01)
Sweeney, John E. (R-NY, 20th)
Tauscher, Ellen O. (D-CA, 10th)
Thompson, Bennie G. (D-MS, 2nd)
Thompson, Mike (D-CA, 1st)
Tierney, John F. (D-MA, 6th)
Udall, Mark (D-CO, 2nd)
Udall, Tom (D-NM, 3rd)
Upton, Fred (R-MI, 6)
Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD, 08)
Watson, Diane E. (D-CA, 33rd)
Watt, Melvin L. (D-NC, 12th)
Waxman, Henry (D-CA, 30)
Weiner, Anthony D. (D-NY, 9th)
Weldon, Curt (R-PA, 7th)
Woolsey, Lynn C. (D-CA, 6th)
Wu, David (D-OR, 1st)

id: 
4600
News Date: 
Monday, April 12, 2004