The U.S. House of Representatives passed a new coronavirus relief package, The Heroes Act, on May 15, 2020. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, this will be the fifth measure adopted by Congress to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We, the undersigned scientific organizations representing tens of thousands of members of the American biomedical research enterprise, are alarmed by the National Institutes of Health's revocation of a peer-reviewed research grant for studies of coronaviruses by EcoHealth Alliance. Not only is this decision counterintuitive, given the urgent need to better understand the virus that causes COVID-19 and identify drugs that will save lives, but it politicizes science at a time when, if we are to stamp out this scourge, we need the public to trust experts and to take collective action.

More than ever before, the country is relying on the scientific enterprise to help guide our path to recovery. Scientific progress and U.S. economic development are vastly accelerated by bringing the best and brightest minds together. Therefore, we urge you to prioritize the immigration of science and technology talent that will spur the scientific breakthroughs and economic growth of the United States that is needed for rapid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Often in the peer review of research grant proposals, panel discussion is used as a way to take advantage of a broader set of expertise and perspectives for making funding decisions. The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has published findings exploring reviewer experiences with panel discussion and examining their perceived quality and effectiveness as well as their influence on scoring.

Our organizations strongly oppose EPA’s supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) to the “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” proposed rulemaking. Like the original proposed rule, this supplemental proposal would undermine sound science and put Americans’ health and the environment at risk. We are deeply concerned with EPA’s continued efforts to impede the use of critical science and implore the agency to withdraw the proposal.

As leading scientific, engineering, and higher education organizations - which together represent hundreds of thousands of scientists, engineers, and educators - we are writing to submit our comments on EPA's Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("supplemental") to the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science Proposed Rulemaking that was originally published on April 30, 2018.

Thank you for the opportunity to share ideas and recommendations for supplemental appropriations and stimulus ideas related to scientific research and education.

The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) is a national initiative led by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Natural Science Collections Alliance, and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Through the membership of its founding organizations, BCoN represents the diversity of biological science societies, natural history museums and arboreta, living collections, and other research centers and organizations.

The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) is a national initiative led by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Natural Science Collections Alliance, and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Through the membership of its founding organizations, BCoN represents the diversity of biological science societies, natural history museums and arboreta, living collections, and other research centers and organizations.

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