Friday, February 6, 2009

ASTRA support of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)

Dear Friend of ASTRA:

The Senate recently began debate on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The bill supports robust increases for America's scientific and engineering communities through targeted investments in talent, facilities and critically important projects. These R&D investments will create jobs, grow the economy, promote energy independence, and redress years of stagnant or declining funding for much of the nation's innovation ecosystem.

Voting "yes" for R&D funding contained in the ARRA will also help get our economy back on track. Its passage will help Americans who are suffering through these difficult times. America needs to move forward by creating jobs, inventing new industries, and developing a well-trained scientific, engineering and technical talent pool for the global challenges ahead.

ASTRA supports the package on the table offered by the Senate Leadership and the new Administration. New R&D investments will directly help people, create jobs, provide a jolt to our economy, and restore America's competitive position in world markets.

Please join ASTRA in saying "yes" to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act package as it currently exists by signing the petition found
www.usinnovation.org (just click on this link to the Petition found on our Web Site, read it, and then click on "Sign the Petition" if you agree with us).

This message is being sent to more than 33,000 Friends of ASTRA - please share it with others. Please tell your friends and associates about our efforts to support robust funding for scientific and engineering R&D and STEM Education funding.

Thank you!

Robert S. BoegeExecutive Director
ASTRA,The Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America

Additional information:The Senate version of ARRA contains nearly $13 billion in one-time R&D funding, slightly less than the amount contained in the recently passed House version of the legislation. For a comparison between the House and Senate versions of the bill, see our latest analysis: www.usinnovation.org/files/ASTRACompEconomRecAct209.pdf

For an excellent analysis of how R&D spending creates jobs, see the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) study completed by Daniel Castro and Dr. Robert Atkinson. It can be downloaded by clicking this link: www.usinnovation.org/files/ITIF2009Stimnovation.pdf

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1 comment:

Jim Pearson said...

A summary of the how the Nelson/Collins Compromise changes key R&D provisions of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 can be seen at http://www.usinnovation.org/files/Nelson-CollinsCompromise20709.pdf

From ASTRA, In a nutshell, here is what the Nelson-Collins compromise does to key science agencies affecting many scientific and engineering disciplines (details are contained in the linked chart) as compared to the House-passed bill (H.R.1:

National Science Foundation
. Cuts $1.8 billion out of all NSF funding, including $1.5 billion for Research & Related Activities (student research and grants)

Department of Energy, Including Office of Science
. Eliminates the ARPA-E Program
. Cuts $1.5 billion for Office of Science Research Programs
. Cuts $100 million from Government-wide Supercomputing

National Institute of Standards & Technology
. Eliminates funding for the Technology Innovation Program (TIP)
. Eliminates funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
. Cuts Scientific and Technical Research and Services (Research) by $100 million (so-called NIST "Core" Programs)

National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration
. Cuts Scientific Research & Facilities by $200 million