WASHINGTON – The Science Coalition (TSC) released the following statement after Congress and the Administration failed to reach an agreement to keep key federal agencies open past December 21:
“Maintaining a consistent funding environment is critical for sustaining America’s scientific enterprise. Without continued funding for key agencies that direct scientific research, critical research dollars for universities and national laboratories conducting research across the country are threatened. Quite simply, when the government shuts down, U.S. science suffers. With this in mind, we encourage Congress and the Administration to reach an agreement to reopen the unfunded parts of the federal government as quickly as possible.
“More importantly, we urge Congress and the Administration to approve full-year appropriations for the remaining FY 2019 spending bills, particularly the Commerce, Justice, Science measure that funds the National Science Foundation, NASA, and other essential research agencies. American scientific innovation is too important to remain in an unstable funding environment.”
# # #
About the Science Coalition
Established in 1994, the Science Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of more than 50 of the nation’s leading public and private research universities. It is dedicated to sustaining the federal government’s investment in basic scientific research as a means to stimulate the economy, spur innovation, and drive America’s global competitiveness.