FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--APRIL 14, 2003
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Nobel Laureates and industry leaders petition President to save US science and technologyWashington, D.C. - April 14, 2003 - Thirty-two Nobel Laureates and industry leaders wrote to President George W. Bush today to urge increasing funding for physical sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering. The letter, reinforcing a recent Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report, highlights funding problems that "unless remedied, will affect our scientific and technological leadership, thereby affecting our economy and national security." The letter also indicates that "the growth in expert personnel abroad, combined with the diminishing numbers of Americans entering the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering – an unhealthy trend – is leading corporations to locate more of their R&D activities outside the United States." Noting that NSF funding is only a small fraction of support for these fields, the co-signatories call for "a Presidential initiative for FY 2005, following on from your budget of FY 2004, and focusing on the long-term research portfolios of DOE, NASA, and the Department of Commerce, in addition to NSF and NIH," that, "would turn around a decade-long decline that endangers the future of our nation." Co-signatories to the letter coordinated their statement through the American Physical Society and the National Association of Manufacturers. April 14, 2003 The President Dear Mr. President: This letter is prompted by the beginning of preparations for the FY 2005 budget, and the release, on October 16, 2002, of the report by your Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, "Assessing the U.S. R&D Investment." That report noted serious problems in the physical sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering that, unless remedied, will affect our scientific and technologic al leadership, thereby affecting our economy and national security. You began addressing these challenges in your FY 2004 budget submission, and more will need to be done to reverse the decline of the 1990s. From our perspectives in industry, academia and national laboratories, the PCAST report accurately stated, "
We note, further, that the growth in expert personnel abroad, combined with the diminishing numbers of Americans entering the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering an unhealthy trend is leading corporations to locate more of their R&D activities outside the United States. We applaud your support for research as demonstrated by your administration's recently completed doubling of the NIH bio-medical research budget, and your signing of the bill authorizing major increases in the NSF budget. However, it is not widely recognized that NSF supports only a small portion of long-term research in the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering. A Presidential initiative for FY 2005, following on from your budget of FY 2004, and focusing on the long-term research portfolios of DOE, NASA, and the Department of Commerce, in addition to NSF and NIH, would turn around a decade-long decline that endangers the future of our nation. Dr. Marburger and Mr. Kvamme put it succinctly in their letter accompanying the PCAST report: "the report suggests targeting the physical sciences and certain engineering fields ... for budgetary reallocation given their importance to our nation's economic well-being and competitiveness in order to better balance the available budget dollars." We concur, and hope that even in these times of budgetary stress you can, through a Presidential initiative in the FY 2005 budget, expand on what you have begun to increase the nation's investment in future strength. Respectfully, Burton Richter Craig Barett Phillip Anderson Ned Barnholt Nicholaas Bloembergen Linden Blue John F. Cassidy Steven Chu Stuart D. Doyle Jerome I. Friedman Jerome J. Gaspar Ivar Giaever Sheldon Lee Glashow Raymond G. Hemann William D. Hill Russell A. Hulse Dick Lampman Joseph J. Miller, Jr. Craig J. Mundie Richard Pearson Martin L. Perl Robert Richardson Robert N. Schmidt William T. Siegle Russ Shade Horst Stormer Richard Taylor Charles H. Townes John J. Tracy Daniel C. Tsui Kenneth Wilson Robert W. Wilson CC: |
About APS
The American Physical Society (www.aps.org) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy and international activities. APS represents over 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories and industry in the United States and throughout the world. Society offices are located in College Park, MD (Headquarters), Ridge, NY, and Washington, DC.
