The Task Force on American Innovation praised science funding in the FY15 C-J-S Appropriations Bill:

PS14-17 TaskForceonAmericanInnvoationTFAI House CJS Approps Statement

Text of the letter:

The Task Force on American Innovation -a coalition of industry, universities, and scientific societies- supports the strong funding provided for the National Science Foundation and NASA’s science programs in the FY15 Commerce -Justice–Science appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee. We strongly urge the House to sustain that funding when it considers the legislation.

The United States faces a growing innovation deficit because federal support for scientific research has lagged while other countries have ramped up their investments in science. To address the innovation deficit, Congress and the President must place a high priority on science and engineering research funding. The subcommittee that wrote the bill, while facing an overall cut in its allocation from FY14, actually provided needed, meaningful increases for the National Science Foundation and NASA’s science programs. And we would like to work with subcommittee leaders to increase funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which we also believe should be an important priority.

We commend the entire Appropriations Committee, but especially Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf, who has been a tireless force on behalf of research funding, and Ranking Subcommittee Member Chaka Fattah, also a consistently strong advocate for the nation’s science investment. They have had to make difficult decisions to include these research investments within a tightly constrained budget. We hope this bipartisan support for science will be sustained throughout the appropriations process in both the House and Senate.