Nearly 6,000 names have already been collected for the ACS petition drive,
4,000 of which have come from the New Orleans national meeting. Although
this represents only 4% of the ACS membership, support is strong and
growing. Whole chemistry departments at universities are signing on.
Individual ACS members also are sending petitions with 30 or more signatures
from their colleagues.
With the opportunity to leverage the power of 151,000 ACS members, as
Network members, you need to take similar leadership roles and challenge
your colleagues to join the petition effort. They may send their names and
addresses via e-mail to petition@acs.org.
Thanks to all of you who already have taken the initiative.
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An Open Letter to the President and the Congressional Leadership
We, the undersigned concerned citizens and members of the American Chemical
Society, are deeply disturbed by the decreasing level of federal support for
science and technology, especially as it relates to the chemical sciences.
Investment in science and technology generates significant returns for our
country. Under current projections for a seven-year balanced budget,
funding for federally-supported science and technology will decrease by
approximately one-third. Such a large decrease in support threatens future
discoveries that can help protect our citizens from disease and pollution,
provide for a robust national economy, and improve the quality of our lives.
For the sake of the future of our Nation, we urge you to strengthen federal
support for science and technology as part of balancing the federal budget.
Sincerely yours,
Ronald Breslow, ACS President
Paul S. Anderson, ACS President-Elect
Brian M. Rushton, ACS Immediate Past President
Joan E. Shields, Chairman, ACS Board of Directors
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ACS Federal Funding Networks
Dept. of Gov't Relations & Science Policy
1155 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202/452-2127, fax: 202/872-6206
e-mail: nsfnet@acs.org OR nihnet@acs.org
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