WASHINGTON – The Science Coalition (TSC) issued the following statement after the House Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations bills for Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, Defense, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more evident than ever that research is an essential federal investment. Our federal research agencies have worked in close collaboration with universities and colleges to guide our response efforts. We have witnessed firsthand the ingenuity and life-saving technologies produced from these partnerships, and we are especially encouraged to see such a significant increase in funding for scientific research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Research conducted at NIH is critical to public health, and appropriators should be commended for their commitment to the largest biomedical research agency in the world.

“We are pleased to see the appropriations process moving forward, as funding predictability is imperative for our researchers to plan out their work and ensure we continue to lead the world in innovation through the pandemic and beyond. We urge Congress to apply funding increases consistently across research agencies and disciplines to ensure a healthy, holistic, and sustainable research ecosystem. At a time when the research enterprise has been challenged, it is essential to have meaningful funding increases for defense research, the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and NASA.”

The Science Coalition has also endorsed the “Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act,” which would authorize approximately $26 billion in federal funds to support America’s 560,000-strong research workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and protect past investment in the research projects the pandemic interrupted. As the House continues to move ahead with the FY21 appropriations process, TSC encourages House leadership to take the necessary steps to bring this bill to the floor – our nation’s research enterprise and our country’s economic recovery demand these critical investments.

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About the Science Coalition

Established in 1994, The Science Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of more than 50 of the nation’s leading public and private research universities. It is dedicated to sustaining the federal government’s investment in basic scientific research as a means to stimulate the economy, spur innovation, and drive America’s global competitiveness.