Below are issues and communications developed to help advance the policy goals of the materials community.
Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Leadership to promptly
schedule a floor vote on H.R. 527 to ensure a secure and continuous supply of
helium in maintaining U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing and
cutting-edge scientific research. (April 2013)
Read More »Letter to U.S. Congressional Leadership from MRS President to reject Senate Amendment 76 to the Continuing Resolution, HR 933, which would restrict the number of government employees who can attend any conference meeting to 25 people. (March 2013)
Read More »Joint professional society letter to U.S. Congressional
Leadership to avoid drastic, indiscriminate cuts to federal science research
and development programs. (February 2013)
Read More »Oversight for Existing and Proposed Federal
Travel and Meeting Policies Letter to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Federal
Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the Census, from U.S. science, engineering
and higher education organizations to
provide effective oversight without adding to the administrative burden and
expense of cutting off the participation of federal scientists and engineers at
conferences. (February 2013)
Read More »Letter to U.S. Congressional
Leadership from the major U.S. science, engineering and higher education
organizations to not sacrifice our nation’s crucial investments in science and
technology. (December 2012)
Read More » Letter to U.S. Congressional
Leadership from MRS President to consider the negative consequences of
restricting federal employees participation in scientific conferences and
meetings. (October 2012)
Read More »Letter to the Senate from
representatives of the nation’s leading companies, universities and scientific
societies urging support for the NSF in S. 2323, the Commerce-Justice-Science
appropriations bills for FY 2013. (July 2012)
Read More »Letter to the U.S. Senate
leadership expressing appreciation for advancing a bipartisan, substitute
amendment to the Critical Minerals Policy Act. The amendment represents a vital
step towards addressing the critical minerals challenges we face. (July 2012)
Read More »Letter to the U.S. House of
Representatives leadership to express support for legislation that is urgently
needed to maintain a reliable domestic supply of helium and minimize market
disruptions. (July 2012)
Read More »Helium Group letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources expressing support for the Helium Stewardship Act of 2012 (S.2374). This legislation is urgently needed to continue administering our federal helium program to maintain a reliable domestic supply and minimize market disruptions. (May 2012)
Read More »MRS contributes a materials chapter for the AAAS R&D Budget book that assesses the proposed federal government budget for FY2013. (March 2012)
Read More »Doubling funding for Key Science Agencies in the 2013 Budget. Published by the White House Office of Science Policy. (February 2012)
Read More »Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Coalition for National Science Funding in opposition to the provision that would require the posting of a complete copy of a funded grant proposal to a new government-wide website. (February 2012)
Read More »Letter to the U.S. Congressional Leadership from MRS President thanking them for the level of support provided to these agencies and for recognizing the importance of sustaining and protecting federal scientific research funding. (November 2011)
Read More »Intersociety letter to Congressional Leadership urging strong support for the federal research budget and its mission to advance a balanced portfolio of scientific and technological discovery and innovation. (October 2011)
Read More »Presentation by Dr. Cyrus Wadia, Assistant Director, Clean Energy and Materials R&D, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. (November 2011)
Read More »Letter from professional societies to President Obama in support of the plan to foster a new era of US innovation embodied in the MGI. (August 2011)
Read More »The Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness (MGI) white paper prepared by an ad hoc group of the National Science and Technology Council. (June 2011)
Read More » Intersociety letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee supporting the federal research and development budget of NSF and its mission. (July 2011)
Read More » Intersociety letter to President Obama, House Speaker Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Reid urging reductions in federal spending should not come at the expense of science and engineering research. (July 2011)
Read More »Letter from multiple organizations to the Office of Government Ethics supporting the proposed rule that would ease the way for Federal employees to serve on the boards of directors of professional and scientific societies and organizations. (June 2011)
Read More »