Extreme Funding Cuts Would Harm America’s Research Enterprise

The Science Coalition released the following statement on the President’s FY18 budget request. The statement can be attributed to Anna Quider, Ph.D, Science Coalition Vice President and Northern Illinois University Director of Federal Relations.

“The extreme funding cuts to science agencies and related programs included in the budget released today would harm America’s research enterprise and our nation’s leadership in scientific discovery. Basic scientific research, conducted at universities in communities across the country, is the smallest slice of the nation’s R&D pie, yet it is the critical spark that ignites discovery and innovation in the United States.

“The return on the federal government’s investment in research surrounds us. From life changing discoveries to innovations that produce new industries, and from building a STEM workforce to creating new jobs, science-driven innovation has been a powerful driver of the U.S. economy for decades.

“A recently released report by The Science Coalition helps illustrate this point. It identifies 102 companies created from federally funded university research. Each company is bringing to market transformational innovations, creating jobs, and contributing to economic growth. The companies exist because academic researchers had access to competitively awarded grants from America’s premier research agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, Department of Defense R&D, Department of Agriculture, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“We are grateful that so many in Congress understand the connection between basic scientific research and our wellbeing and prosperity as a nation. We urge Congress to continue the bipartisan tradition of investing strongly in this research.”

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The Science Coalition is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization of the nation’s leading public and private research universities. It is dedicated to sustaining strong federal funding of basic scientific research as a means to stimulate the economy, spur innovation and drive America’s global competitiveness. Learn more at www.sciencecoalition.org.

American-Made Innovation Sparking Economic Growth and the accompanying database of companies are available at www.sciencecoalition.org/successstories.