Action Alert: Urge Congress to Support Research Relief

Join ESA and 22 other professional societies representing hundreds of thousands of scientists, mathematicians and engineers as part of a collaborative effort to raise awareness of the importance of restoring our academic research enterprise impacted by COVID-19. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), the impacts on the federal enterprise are far-reaching, resulting in lab and user facility closures, canceled conferences, equipment delays, and increased costs for ongoing R&D. To counter this threat to research and education, 23 professional societies have teamed up to organize a Research Relief Advocacy campaign urging Congress to pass the RISE Act (H.R. 7308, S. 4286) providing specific authorization recommendations for each research agency.

TAKE ACTION! We are urging ecologists to contact their congressional delegation via email and/or tweet to encourage passage of the RISE Act (H.R. 7308, S. 4286). Things you can do:

• Learn More about the RISE Act (H.R. 7308, S. 4286) and why Research Relief is important. Read the CRS report and a report by Council on Governmental Relations on the impacts.
•  Send an email to Senators and Representatives encouraging them to sponsor and pass the RISE Act. See details below.
• Use Social Media to encourage passage of the RISE Act and to highlight key messages from the hearing.
• Sept.  16: Watch as the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee (@SenateCommerce) marks up the RISE Act, among other legislation and nominations.
• Say Thank You: Send an email or use social media to thank Reps. Haley Stevens (@RepHaleyStevens) and Jim Baird (@RepJimBaird), Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Research and Technology Subcommittee (@HouseScience), for holding a hearing about research relief and the RISE Act, and thank the Members of the Committee for participating.

Send an Email to Congress:

If you don’t know who your Senator or Representative is, go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to find information on your elected officials. Use the sample language below and personalize your message by sharing your story about how your research and education have been impacted by COVID-19.

Email Subject Line: Constituent Request: Support RISE Act (H.R. 7308, S. 4286)

As your constituent and a member of the scientific community, I urge you to cosponsor the Research Investment to Secure the Economy Act (RISE Act; H.R. 7308, S. 4286) a bipartisan bill to support U.S. research universities negatively impacted by the pandemic.

COVID-19 has disrupted or suspended research activities across the U.S. It is critical that Congress take steps to fully restore our nation’s valuable research enterprise, which has led us to be a global leader in innovation, improved the health of our citizens, and strengthened our economy and national security.

[Personalize your message here and share your story.]

The RISE Act would help relieve the strains our federal science agencies are facing and maintain leadership in an increasingly competitive global research ecosystem. It would provide supplemental funding for grant extensions, enabling the completion of disrupted research, training extensions to shield grad students and postdocs from the unpredictable job market, and replacement or refurbishment of lab equipment. Between 2018-19, research at U.S. universities supported more than 560,000 people on campuses across the country.

Sincerely,

Your First and Last Name

Tag Your Member of Congress in Tweets about RISE Act

Use the following hashtags in your tweets: #ResearchRelief and #RISEAct

Sample tweets:

Grad students and postdocs worry that #coronavirus-related lab closures will delay career progress. #ResearchRelief will help them take their science careers to the next level. Support the #RISEAct. #ECRchat

With the advent of COVID-19 and the continuing climate change crisis, science research is more important than ever. Support for the #RISEAct ensures that critically needed funding streams remain open. #ResearchRelief

The #COVID19 pandemic has been a stark reminder of the critical role science plays in the public health of our nation. We need #ResearchRelief to restore depleted research funding and the promise of science. #RISEAct