BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
10
MAY
2014
Public Affairs
BPSVisits Capitol Hill
OnMarch25 and26, Biophysical Society
member
Vasanthi Jayaraman
, theUniversity of
TexasHealthScienceCenter atHoustonMedical
School, joined325other scientists, engineers, and
business leadersmaking visits onCapitolHill as
part of the 18
th
Science-Engineering-Technology
Congressional VisitsDay (CVD). This annual
event is sponsoredby the Science-Engineering-
TechnologyWorkGroup (SET), of which the
Biophysical Society is amember. The purpose
of the visitswas to educateCongress about the
important role federal research funding plays in
innovation and competiveness; explain the harm
sequestration cuts have had to researchprograms;
and express support for sustained andpredictable
federal funding for research. Jayaraman alsohad
the opportunity to learn about the federal budget
for science agencies and the appropriations process
from speakers that includ-
ed representatives from
theWhiteHouse, Capitol
Hill, and theAmericanAs-
sociation for theAdvance-
ment of Science.
Overall, the visiting scien-
tists held1250Congres-
sionalmeetings and visited
the offices ofmembers of
Congress from45different
states. Jayaraman, along
withBPS staffmembers
EllenWeiss
and
Ellen
Mackall
,
metwith staff in
the offices of Senator
Ted
Cruz
(R-TX), Senator
John
Cornyn
(R-TX), andCon-
gressman
JohnCulberson
(R-TX).
During the event, the SETworking group
honoredCongresswoman
Eddie Bernice Johnson
(D-TX)with theGeorgeE. Brown, Jr. Award for
leadership in science, technology, andmathemat-
ics onCapitolHill. Johnson, the rankingmember
of theHouse Science, Space, andTechnology
Committee, is an active supporter of STEM edu-
cation, women in science, and federal scientific
research funding.
BPSSignsPositionStatements
onFY2015ResearchFunding
After PresidentObama releasedhis budget request
for FY2015 in earlyMarch, theBiophysical Soci-
ety joined other scientific organizations in letting
Congress and theAdministrationknowwhat lev-
els of funding are necessary to continue tomake
progress in research andmaintain a competitive
advantage over other nations.
The Society has joinedother organizations in
signing letters sent toCongress asking them to
appropriate aminimumof $32billion for the
National Institutes ofHealth, $7.5billion for the
National Science Foundation, and$5.2billion
forDepartment of EnergyOffice of Science inFY
2015. These request numbersweremade taking
into consideration the financial constraintsCon-
gress has placedon itself inorder to shrink the
deficit aswell as the President’s request for these
agencies.
For theNIH request, sent by theAdHocGroup
forMedical Research, the letter stated:
"TheConsolidatedAppropriations Act of 2014
included awelcome andmuchneeded increase
for theNational Institutes ofHealth (NIH).
However, this increase didnot give back all of
the funds cut by sequestration inFY2013nor
did it restore the purchasing power lost over the
past decade.We hope FY2014 represents a first
step toward restoring our nation’s preeminence in
medical research. TheAdHocGroup forMedical
CongresswomanEddieBernice Johnson
(D-TX) speaks to theCongressional
Visitsparticipants after receiving
the2014GeorgeE. Brown, Jr. Award
for Science-Engineering-Technology
Leadership.
