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NSF budget for behavioral and social sciences

``` Date: May 15 From: Margaret Jean Intons-Peterson Department of Psychology Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 INTONS@INDIANA.EDU

EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT From the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences

The House Budget Committee has recommended the complete elimination of NSF research funding for Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Linguistics, Political Science, Economics, Geography, Cognitive Science, Decision, Risk and Management Sciences, History of Science, and Statistical Research for the Behavioral and Social Sciences-- as NSF's contribution to balancing the Federal budget.

There is no doubt that NSF funding will be cut in the effort to balance the budget. But to selectively wipe out the behavioral and social sciences goes far beyond simply saving money. This is the most important crisis these sciences have faced since Ronald Reagan attempted to eliminate the same sciences in the early 1980s. Action on this will happen very quickly. The Budget Committee approved the budget package on May 11. The vote on the package by the full House will happen sometime between the 15th and 18th of May. In all likelihood, the budget resolution will pass the House unaltered. The Appropriations Committee will be bound by the spending limits imposed by the Budget Committee. But it need not be bound by the particular cuts recommended by the Budget Committee! Unfortunately, the House leadership has also made it known that no program that lacks a current authorization will be funded. The National Science Foundation is not currently authorized. Efforts to pass its authorization failed last year in the Senate. The House Science Committee Chair, Robert Walker (R-PA) has said that as soon as the budget is passed, the Science Committee will proceed to report its authorizations which include, among other things, NSF, NASA, and the research programs of the Department of Energy. Robert Walker is also the Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee, and he played a key role in determining the selective cuts at NSF. In a news conference on May 12, Walker said that the Directorate containing the research programs mentioned above was created simply because it was "politically correct" and that it is now time to make a correction. This means that there is little chance the NSF authorization from his Committee will contain an authorization for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate. If the Committee does not authorize the Directorate, the Appropriations Committee cannot fund the research programs it contains. So scientists must pay close attention to actions of the Budget, Appropriations, and the authorizing committee.

The only way the course of events can be changed is for concerned citizens to let their elected representatives know that they as voters to not approve of these ideological cuts masquerading as budget balancing measures. You must take it on yourself immediately to

1) write or call your own representative and senator's office to express your disapproval

2) send a copy of your letter to: Robert Walker, George Brown (ranking minority member of the Science Committee and a likely ally of behavioral and social scientists), Jerry Lewis (Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that appropriates money for the National Science Foundation). And this next thing is equally important: SEND, FAX OR EMAIL A COPY OF YOUR CORRESPONDENCE TO THE FEDERATION OF BEHAVIORAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES. We have to be able to monitor how great an impact behavioral and social scientists are having, and the only way we can do that is by keeping track of how many contacts from scientists congressional offices have received. Any letter to Congress may be addressed as follows: Representative's name, U.S. House of Representatives (or U.S. Senate) Washington, D.C. 20515 (House) or 20510 (Senate). The Federation email is federation@apa.org. Federation fax is (202) 336-6158. If you need more information, our telephone number is (202) 336-5920.

3) Help us get the word out. Please see that the anthropology, sociology, linguistics, economics, political science, cognitive science, and geography departments on your campus receive this action alert as well.

4) It is very important that elected representatives do not hear only from the scientists affected. If you have acquaintances in the physical or biological sciences or the university administration who would write a letter or make a phone call to an elected representative, do everything you can to get such a communication sent.

Margaret Jean Intons-Peterson Department of Psychology Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 INTONS@INDIANA.EDU Phone: 812-855-3991 Fax: 812-855-4691 ```

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