News from The Hill

Register by 29 April for the 25th Annual CNSF Exhibition & Reception taking place on Tuesday, 30 April 2019, in Washington, D.C.

Put Your Science Into Action at the Geoscience and Society Summit
Cosponsored by GSA, the Geoscience and Society Summit will create a forum using scientific information to tackle global and local challenges around sustainability of natural resources and systems, global health, and resilience.

Final Legislation Passed by 115th Congress
During the lame-duck session of the 115th Congress, Congress was able to pass several geoscience-related bills that have been signed into law.

U.S. Senate Confirms Key Science Positions
On the last full day of the 115th Congress, the U.S. Senate voted to approve several White House nominations, including Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier to be director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Concerns Raised about USGS Conference Policy
GSA joined members of the USGS Coalition to highlight how scientific conferences "promote collaborations between federal scientists and those in private industry and academia, provide for rapid dissemination of federally funded research results, and provide high quality professional development for the next generation of scientists and engineers."

Raise the Caps
GSA signed a letter to congressional leaders calling for "a two-year bipartisan budget agreement that increases the spending caps for discretionary programs" that will make it possible to maintain key federal investments in America’s science and engineering enterprise.

GSA Advocates for Geoscience Funding
GSA Director for Geoscience Policy Kasey White testified in support of the U.S. Geological Survey on 26 February. GSA also submitted testimony in support of geoscience research at NSF and NASA and signed letters by the Energy Sciences Coalition and Coalition for National Science Funding asking Congress to invest in research at DOE and NSF.

Increases for NSF Funding
GSA signed a letter thanking congressional leaders for increasing the National Science Foundation’s budget by 4 percent to $8.1 billion for fiscal year 2019.

Scientific Organizations Highlight Impacts of the Shutdown
As a member of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), GSA signed a letter "to express our serious concerns about the impact of the government shutdown on America’s research enterprise."