THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS

The legislative tracker has been updated--and, check out our new state legislation tracker. More topics to come soon!

Find sequestration resources on our new webpage!

Senate to Tackle Immigration Reform.  This week the Senate plans to complete debate on the Farm Bill and then to take up the Immigration Reform bill.  The immigration bill features a new class of visas for entrepreneurship and would significantly boost the number of H1-B visas available to immigrants with advanced degrees, particularly in math and science.  The first task will be to decide how to carry out the debate.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will seek to limit debate, but whether he can succeed in gaining the necessary 60 votes remains to be seen.  Although a comprehensive immigration reform bill has found some bipartisan support in the Senate, its legislative prospects are still uncertain.  The House recently approved an amendment to the Homeland Security bill that would rescind an Administration amnesty policy to protect young, undocumented immigrants from deportation. 

Rep. Cantor Launches New Website/App.  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) recently launched a new website, Cosponsor.gov/.  This website, also available as an app, is Facebook-based and allows the public to “cosponsor,” or “like,” bills currently in Congress. The site allows for easy access to the complete text of all current bills and the names of the Congressional members who support the bill. It also shows the progression of each bill through Congress using an easy-to-read dashboard.

Follow @AAAS_GR

HEADLINES
Mapping the Brain: A public lunch briefing. View the slides here and here.

AAAS responds to UNESCO's request for comments on the draft document, "Preliminary Study on the Technical and Legal Aspects Relating to the Desirability of Revising the 1974 Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers."

Recovering from Stroke, the State of the Science. May 22: Slides are available here.

The May edition of Science and Technology in Congress is available here.

AAAS sent a letter to Representative Lofgren in support of the Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013.

AAAS Public Lunch Briefing on April 26: R&D Budget in the FY 2014 Request. Featuring Matt Hourihan, Director of the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program. Register here.

AAAS submits public comments on institutional oversight of life sciences dual use research of concern.

February 2013 STC newsletter is available now!

AAAS sends letters to Senators Mikulski and Shelby in support of political science research.

AAAS sends letter to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to share our thoughts about federal travel and meeting policies.

The legislative tracker has been updated--and, check out our new state legislation tracker. More topics to come soon!

AAAS sent a petition with about 16,000 signatures, urging the White House and Congress to avoid devastating cuts to R&D.

AAAS sent a collection of messages from scientists around the country, telling Congress about the importance of their federally funded research. Check out what they said, and have your say, too! http://membercentral.aaas.org/sequestration/voices/videos.

AAAS affirms the importance of research to better understand and curb gun violence in a letter to Reps. Maloney and Markey. Read the press release and letter here.

AAAS thanks President Obama for supporting research on gun violence. See the letter here.

View the video from our recent panel on the Arctic as an Emerging Market.

An updated legislation tracker is available now!

AAAS and over one hundred other scientific societies send a letter to the White House and Congress, urging them to avoid the sequestration.

November 2012 issue of Science and Technology in Congress now available!

Check out the video from the AAAS briefing on sequestration, or view presentations from Matt Hourihan (AAAS) and Orlando Auciello (Argonne National Laboratory).

Find sequestration resources on our new webpage!

View the video from our recent Food-Energy-Water Nexus panel, featuring Nicole T. Carter, Melissa D. Ho, Cathleen Enright, and hosted by Richard Harris.

View the video from our recent Biosecurity Panel, featuring CDR Chris Bidwell, Randall Murch, Kristin Omberg, and hosted by David Kestenbaum.

Impacts of Sequestration on Science Budgets. Read the new brief from the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program here.

Presentations from Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease: A Public Luncheon Briefing are available here and here.

Translational Science: From Research to Practice, a public breakfast briefing on Tuesday, July 31. View the presentation here.

Mental Health in Early Adulthood: A Public Luncheon Briefing: Check out Dr. Abigail Baird's presentation.

Early Brain Development and Early Education: A Public Luncheon Briefing: Check out presentations by James A. Griffin and Martha J. Farah.

AAAS and Affiliates Send Letter to Congress Regarding GSA Travel Restrictions
On May 18, 2012, AAAS and affiliates sent letters to the House and the Senate to express concern regarding amendments that would place severe restrictions on government employees' abilities to attend meetings and conferences.

AAAS Sends Letter to Congress Regarding Funding of NSF Political Science Research
In response to an amendment seeking to eliminate funding to NSF political science research, AAAS sent letters in support of these important programs to the House and the Senate.

AAAS Launches Election 2012 Site
With the U.S. presidential campaign still in its early stages, the AAAS Office of Government Relations has developed a Web site that describes and tracks the candidates' positions on science, technology, and innovation issues: Science and Technology in the 2012 Presidential Election.

AAAS Participates in Climate Science Day
February 1 marked the second annual Climate Science Day, an opportunity for scientists of many disciplines to visit Capitol Hill and meet with members of Congress to discuss climate science. The event was a joint effort of the intersociety Climate Science Working Group, which comprises a dozen scientific professional societies and research organizations, including AAAS.

AAAS Issues Statement on Research Works Act
On January 18, AAAS reaffirmed its support for the current public access policy of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), stating that it does not endorse the Research Works Act, which would prevent NIH from requiring its grantees to make biomedical research findings freely available via the National Library of Medicine's Web site.

AAAS Comments on Public Access
On January 12, AAAS responded to a Request for Information by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on public access to peer-reviewed publications resulting from federally-funded research.