The biological sciences research and education community is deeply concerned by the July 6, 2020, guidance from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would force international students to leave the country if they do not participate in in-person instruction during the fall 2020 semester.

The changes announced on July 6, 2020 by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have an immeasurable negative impact on many academic institutions and their students, most notable those with significant Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs.

The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) - a broad-based group of professional organizations, universities, scientific societies, and businesses - wants to thank Congress for its consistent support for fundamental scientific research and educational programs supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). As the only federal agency charged with the promotion of scientific progress across all scientific and engineering disciplines, NSF is the cornerstone of America's basic research enterprise.

AIBS stands with all people and organizations working to end racism and injustice through peaceful protest, legal action, policy change, and systemic reform.

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.

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.

As professional scientific organizations, we know the power of collective action to solve problems -- it is how research has advanced for centuries. Today, we stand united in a spirit of diversity and inclusion and offer our support for people of Asian ancestry, rejecting efforts to ascribe fault for the pandemic, and instead urge a focus on leveraging global human diversity to solve today's public health crisis. The organizations below applaud and support your Congressional resolutions to denounce anti-Asian discrimination as related to COVID-19.

The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Committee's request for ideas to be included in any future near-term response and longer-term economic stimulus package(s) developed by the House to address and mitigate the impacts of the current COVID-19 crisis. CNSF is an alliance of professional organizations, universities and businesses united by a concern for the future vitality of the national science, mathematics, and engineering enterprise.