AAAS Thanks U.S. House Leaders for "America COMPETES" Support

In a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, AAAS thanked those who helped craft a bipartisan bill that reinforces the importance of research and innovation for the American economy. AAAS urged passage of the bill, the America COMPETES Act, which the House approved by a 367-57 vote and the Senate approved by a voice vote on 2 August.

The bill, which now goes to the White House, contains dozens of initiatives and programs, including authorizations for substantial increases in the research and education budgets of the National Science Foundation, a renamed and restructured technology innovation program, and authorized increases for math and science teacher education.

"For the past two years, AAAS has seen impressive signs of collaboration between the branches of government and across party and regional lines on how to best meet" the innovation challenge, wrote Alan I. Leshner, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the journal Science.

"It took a concerted effort to bring the many programmatic elements outlined in the innovation bills before Congress to fruition in a consensus bill."

AAAS, the nation's largest general scientific organization, represents the interests of 10 million scientists worldwide. The text of Leshner's 2 August letter is here.

Earl Lane

2 August 2007