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Policy

Contact Congress!

by Marinda Li Wu, Chair, Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs
November 14, 2005 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 83, Issue 46

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Credit: Photo By Norm Wu
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Credit: Photo By Norm Wu

Our fall national meeting in Washington, D.C., reminded me of the importance for chemists to engage in more dialogue with our nation's policymakers. If we have an interest in the direction our country is heading in the 21st century—in terms of education, R&D, job growth and retraining, energy and environmental concerns, and global outreach, for example—we should not only take part in local and national elections, but also take the time to contact our legislators and engage in dialogue!

Sure, it is easier to leave this to others. However, if each of us makes just one contact (via e-mail, letter, fax, phone, or in person) with a member of Congress, together, American Chemical Society members (almost 160,000 potential voices) could have an impact and help influence some of our legislators (especially if they are up for reelection). Obviously, if we can motivate even half of our members to act, we can have a powerful effect.

This realization hit me clearly when I heard an inspiring success story delivered at the recent ACS Council meeting by James Mitchell, chair of the Committee on Chemistry & Public Affairs (CCPA). Thanks to the ACS Office of Legislative & Government Affairs (OLGA) for providing the following details:

ACS member Joe Hightower met with his congressman, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) to discuss the importance of continued funding for the National Science Foundation. Culberson is a member of the influential House Appropriations Committee. Joe outlined for Rep. Culberson the importance of defending federal funding for NSF and the important work it supports in the scientific community. Armed with this information from ACS, Culberson returned to Washington, D.C., and was on the floor of the House two weeks later speaking in support of continued funding for NSF and the important work they make possible.

This particular congressman did not know much about NSF prior to meeting with Hightower. In fact, we scientists take for granted many facts that are not well-understood by the general public or most legislators.

I feel fortunate to have recently had the opportunity to visit the offices of five of my local congressmen [including both California Senators, Dianne Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D)] in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 26. As chair of the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA), I accompanied members of the CEPA Subcommittee on Public Policy on a visit to Capitol Hill that was arranged by the ACS staff of OLGA. Three teams were organized by geographic region (California, Southeast/Southwest, and Northeast) and accompanied by an OLGA staff member. Each team was able to visit with five of their local congressmen.


I encourage each and every chemist to take action and contact Congress sometime in the coming year.


Our goal was to promote workforce issues that the CEPA Public Policy Subcommittee has worked on recently. We shared literature on ACS workforce public policies with our local legislators. In particular, we discussed the ACS statements on pension policy and on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in an effort to raise awareness and improve current policies. More information on these and other workforce and career topics can be found on the CEPA website at chemistry.org/committees/cepa/index.html. The dialogue we engaged in at the 15 congressional offices visited by the three CEPA teams was encouraging.

My recent positive experiences serve as an excellent reminder of the critical role chemists can play in society to help better inform and educate local and national policymakers.

I have long had a passion for improving science education in this country, especially at the K-12 levels. This need is more important than ever if the U.S. is to remain technologically competitive in this global 21st century. A few years ago, I led a group of educators and scientists to visit House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's office in San Francisco to hear our concerns and stress the importance of increased funding for science education and research. Back then and recently in Washington, OLGA offered us wonderful support.

I encourage each and every chemist to take action and contact Congress sometime in the coming year. As a first step, if you do not already belong, consider joining the ACS Legislative Action Network (LAN) via the OLGA website at chemistry.org/takeaction. LAN truly makes it easy to contact Congress on major issues of interest to ACS members.

A second step is to participate in the ACS Contact Congress Week. During Contact Congress Week, which is scheduled for Feb. 1724, 2006, ACS members are encouraged to meet with their legislators or invite them to speak at a local section/community event or tour a local laboratory/facility. Years ago, when I invited a legislator to our local section's first Family Science Night during National Chemistry Week, NCW made local news headlines, with our Family Science Night touted as a model for the state by this enthused legislator!

As I said to Glenn Ruskin, OLGA's new director, I believe that Contact Congress Week should become as important to ACS as National Chemistry Week.


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ACS Comments, which appear in C&EN from time to time, are written by society officers and committee chairs. They are available on C&EN Online at www.cen-online.org/html/acscomments.html. Comments are archived back to 2000.

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