WASHINGTON – The Science Coalition (TSC) released the following statement after the “Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act” was reintroduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The TSC-supported legislation would authorize $25 billion in emergency relief for federal research agencies to support America’s 560,000-strong research workforce, help offset pandemic-related delays and disruptions to projects, and protect decades of investment in scientific research underway well before the pandemic hit.
“While the full-year appropriations passed last year provided some predictability for the research enterprise, the call for emergency supplemental aid to support projects affected by the pandemic went unanswered,” said TSC President John Latini. “It has been nearly a year since research operations were upended by the pandemic, leaving a lingering question mark over the future of the STEM workforce and their research. We are encouraged by the bipartisan, bicameral reintroduction of the RISE Act to provide predictability to the research enterprise, support economic recovery, and ensure researchers have the resources they need to mitigate the next public health crisis. We thank the RISE Act’s sponsors for championing our researchers and urge House and Senate leadership to advance and fully fund this important proposal.”
TSC thanks Representatives Diana DeGette, D-Colo.; Fred Upton, R-Mich.; Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas; Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.; and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio and Senators Ed Markey, D-Mass. and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. for their leadership on spearheading this critical legislation. Reps. Bernice Johnson, Eshoo, and Upton and Sen. Markey are all recipients of TSC’s Champion of Science Award.
The Science Coalition endorsed the RISE Act in the 116th Congress. For information on the cutting-edge research TSC institutions are conducting to combat COVID-19, visit our page here.
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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.