We are sending this message to you because you have supported some of our Petition efforts to Congress in the Past.
Please consider immediately signing the petition contained on the link below: www.aboutastra.org/petition/petition.asp If by chance your hyperlink does not work, just paste this link into your Web browser to visit the Petition Sign-on Site.
WHY SIGN THE PETITION — WHAT HAS HAPPENED?:
Congress is at an impasse in raising the national debt ceiling. Sustainable funding for most science & engineering R&D and STEM education programs is in imminent jeopardy because the government must slash spending. And we are an easy "target of opportunity" because we are not as effectively organized as other interests.
Just about everybody wants the government to live within its means. One has only to look at the situation abroad to see the predicament our own country could be in within the near future. We know how to grow our way out of economic adversity because we are the world's leader in innovation, research, scientific R&D, talent development, and entrepreneurial culture. Our population is growing, our economy is reviving, and our spirit is strong. And we have the strategic resources and ideas that will help us to grow and look forward, not stagnate.
But the current stalemate underscores how important it is to use scarce public monies effectively — particularly in areas where the private sector cannot fulfill market needs — such as basic scientific R&D and STEM Education research.
We are in a fiscal crisis. Everybody has to tighten his or her belts. There are many positive things that can be done about taxes, overregulation, capital formation, and creating growth incentives in other areas. We may not agree on how to get there, but most of us agree upon the goals.
That's why Congress needs to remember that funding for scientific & engineering R&D and STEM Education is the SMART WAY to help America grow its way out of our current predicament.
Smart "spending" means supporting adequate and sustainable R&D and STEM Ed programs. These efforts in turn will help create high-paying new jobs in the U.S., foster new industries and services, enhance innovation and competitiveness, and maintain our national defense. This is not just our opinion, it is a fact, based upon history and repeated economic analyses. Scientific R&D and STEM education result in scientific discovery, technology progress and innovation. See ASTRA's quick chart that describes how technological progress is the primary driver of economic growth atwww.usinnovation.org/sites/default/files/ASTRATechnologyFuelsGrowth6222011.pdf
WHAT TO DO:
ASTRA has been asked by a coalition of groups to facilitate a nonpartisan Petition drive supporting science R&D and STEM Education. This Petition will remind our elected officials of who we are, what we do, where we live, and why bipartisan support for R&D and STEM Education is essential to America's future.
Please consider using our latest 2011 State R&D Sheets (released for the successful Congressional Visits Day 2011 Event in April) and our State STEM Ed Report Cards to get the facts about where the money goes, and the economic and social benefits of such investments at www.usinnovation.org/index.php?q=state-sheets
Share these with elected officials if you can.
ACTIONS REQUESTED IMMEDIATELY:
Again, please sign the petition (see link above) immediately. We hope to deliver this to Congress in late July. The petition is nonpartisan, in keeping with ASTRA's goal of not politicizing science and technology policy — just emphasizing the facts and discovering the relationships that explain "how science works" to policy makers.
We also want to "put a human face" on our community. A novel way of reminding our elected officials of who we are — in all of our diversity and walks of life — is to send your photo along with our petition signature. So, if you would like, please send us your photo when you sign the petition (see the options button on the "sign petition" page). A provisional list of initial signatories is provided as an example for you to review.
Our www.usinnovation.org and www.aboutastra.org Web Sites keep current on many developments across our community on a daily basis. Please take advantage of them and use our Twitter and Facebook feeds as well.
PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE ON TO OTHERS:
UPDATE: As of July 7, more than 820 organizations and individuals have signed the petition and more than 200 people have sent us their photos to attach to the petition to "Show the faces of Science & Engineering and STEM Education" to our elected officials.
This message has been sent to approximately 48,000 scientists, engineers, researchers, university employees, teachers, students, technology workers, policy makers, small business owners, researchers, individuals, and others on our "Friends" list. An estimated 175,000 people will be contacted by this message, and we urge you to send it on to any friends, associates and family who may share our interest in signing the Petition.
Thank you, and let's show Congress that we care!
Cordially,
Dr. Mary L. Good
Chairman
ASTRA
