Today, the Task Force on American Innovation sent the following letter to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House Appropriations Committees, regarding the Fiscal Year 2019 budgeting process:

TFAI Letter to Appropriations Committee on FY19

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The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Lowey:

The Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI)—an alliance of industry, scientific societies, and university
organizations—commends you and your colleagues for your work thus far in the fiscal year 2019 (FY19)
appropriations process. TFAI appreciates the bicameral, bipartisan backing of strong investments at the
Department of Energy Office of Science, is encouraged by the Committees’ marks for the National Science
Foundation and supports robust funding levels for these agencies throughout the appropriations process. We
strongly encourage the Conference Committee to provide robust funding for the National Institute of
Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense’s research programs as well. Regarding NASA,
we urge conferees to accede to the House level for the Science Mission account and the Senate levels for the
Aeronautics Research, Space Technology and Space Grant accounts. Given recent attention to federal
infrastructure support and TFAI’s advocacy for science and research infrastructure, we appreciate the
increases in funding for DOE and NSF infrastructure projects in the appropriations bills.

In support of our requests, we bring to your attention a recently updated report from more than 500
organizations from all 50 states representing American industry, education, science, and engineering titled,
“Innovation: An American Imperative.” This updated report once again strongly urges Congress to enact
policies and make investments to ensure the United States remains a global innovation leader. The
international science and technology landscape changing rapidly – for example, the Global Innovation Index
2017 ranks the U.S. fourth among world innovators and 10th in national research investment as a percentage
of GDP – so we must bolster our investments or risk falling further behind.

Looking forward, we urge you to remain committed to sustained, robust funding to these vital science
agencies in FY19 and beyond. Stability and continuity in federal funding are essential to the U.S. maintaining
a world-class scientific research agenda. Federally funded research programs strengthen the U.S. economy,
improve America’s global competitiveness, and enhance our national security.

Thank you for your leadership and continued support of federally funded research in the physical sciences
and engineering. We look forward to working with you to ensure strong funding for these vital agencies.

Sincerely,

Task Force on American Innovation