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Time for Action

As I warned in my previous updates, the legislative calendar will drive our calls for action to restore planetary budget cuts. The House and Senate subcommittees will consider the NASA budget and do their markups early this year, by the end of April or early May. If we want our voice heard in Congress, if we want to reverse these devastating budget cuts, now is the time to act. Attached to this call are contact details for the key congressional members on appropriations committees that need to hear our message. Also attached is a set of talking points and a suggested letter form. All of this information and more will also be posted on the DPS federal relations subcommittee website.

What matters now are numbers. Congress will not be impressed with a handful of letters and e-mails. What will impress them are hundreds or even thousands of messages from scientists across the country concerned about the future of planetary exploration. What I strongly urge the DPS membership to do is the following:

  • Pick six members from this list (better yet, the entire list) and send e-mails or FAXs to their science and technology staffers. A suggested letter is attached to this call. Please feel free to customize it for your individual preference. Every list should include Rep. Wolf and Sen. Mikulski, the chairs of the House and Senate subcommittees. I will be sending out the list of the full senate appropriations subcommittee in a subsequent mailing.
  • Follow up your e-mails with actual written (snail-mail) letters. Because of these troubled times, letters are irradiated prior to delivery to Congress so these can take 4 to 6 weeks before delivery. However, this sort of contact has much more impact than an e-mail and amplifies our presence and our footprint with Congress. If you don’t want to write, call the office and talk to the science and technology staffer. That kind of personal contact has a powerful impact.
  • If you live in the district of any of these senators or congressmen, visit their district office during April. Every representative has numerous district offices whose sole job is to keep contact with constituents. This web site http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm just requires your zip code to give you the websites of your senators and representative, which will lead you to the addresses and phone numbers of their district offices. Mine turned out to be less than 3 miles from my house. Call for appointment, use the attached talking points, bring a copy of your letter, and impress upon the staffer of the critical nature and dire consequences of the planetary budget cuts. These contacts get reported directly to the representative and carry a huge amount of weight.
  • If you live in the DC area, visit the congressional offices of the subcommittee members. The FRS website http://dps.aas.org/public_policy/communicating-congress has advice on visiting Congress. Again use the attached talking points, bring a copy of your letter, and talk about the restoration of the planetary budget.

The time is now. Visits, letters, calls, and e-mails need to be done in the next two weeks to have an impact on the markup process. At the very minimum we can all afford 20 minutes to generate the e-mails necessary to contact every representative on this list. If the DPS as a group does that, we will have a huge impact on the budget process. If we do not, we will be ignored, the cuts will stand, and this golden age of planetary exploration will end. Let's get busy!

House Appropriations

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES SUBCOMMITTEE

Republicans

Frank R. Wolf, Virginia, Chairman
241 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515
Tel: (202) 225-5136
(202) 225-0437 fax
(Science and Technology Staffer) thomas.culligan@mail.house.gov

John Abney Culberson, Texas
2352 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2571
Fax: (202) 225-4381
(Science and Technology Staffer) robert.labranche@mail.house.gov

Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama
2264 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-4876
Fax: 202-225-5587
S&T Staff: mark.dawson@mail.house.gov

Jo Bonner, Alabama
2236 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-4931
Fax: 202-225-0562
S&T Staff: mike.sharp@mail.house.gov

Steve Austria, Ohio
439 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-4324
Fax: 202-2251984
S&T Staff: steven.gilleland@mail.house.gov

Tom Graves, Georgia
1113 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-5211
Fax: 202-225-8272
S&T Staff: bud.whitmire@mail.house.gov

Kevin Yoder, Kansas
214 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-2865
Fax: 202-225-2807
S&T Staff: Katie.hargreaves@mail.house.gov

Democrats

Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania
2301 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-4001
Fax: 202-225-5392
S&T Staff: brenden.chainey@mail.house.gov

Adam B. Schiff, California
2411 Rayburn HOB
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4176
Fax: (202) 225-5828
(Science and Technology Staffer) jeff.lowenstein@mail.house.gov

Michael M. Honda, California
1713 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-2631
Fax: 202-225-2699
S&T Staff: eric.werwa@mail.house.gov

José E. Serrano, New York
2227 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: 202-225-4361
Fax: 202-225-6001
S&T Staff: matthew.alpert@mail.house.gov

Senate Appropriations

Sen. Barbara Mikulski Chair Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee
503 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-4654
Fax: 202-224-8858
(Science and Technology Staffer) Jean_ToalEisen@appro.senate.gov

Sen. Dianne Feinstein Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee
331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
(Science and Technology Staffer) james_peterson@feinstein.senate.gov

Talking Points:

  • Planetary science activities provide an excellent value to the taxpayer and provide a strong return on investment
  • We are in the middle of a major revolution in the understanding of the origin and evolution to the solar system and if there is life beyond Earth.
  • The planetary science community came together in 2009-2010 to decide on the set of priorities for the 2013-2022 time period, identifying the most important science questions in the discipline and the most effective ways of answering those questions in a realistic way given the resources available. The Planetary Decadal survey lays out a plan for the next decade with solid community support.
  • The President’s 2013 budget proposal does not allow Decadal Survey priorities to be implemented and greatly delays future exploration. Essentially backs away from American leadership in solar system exploration.
  • The President’s proposed 2013 budget gravely damages the US Mars program. Only the US has the technical capability to land on Mars which is critical for all robotic surface explorations and for future human exploration. The proposed 2013 will endanger this unique capability.
  • We will abrogate the search for past or perhaps even current life on Mars just at the point in human history that we have acquired to ability to search for and find it.
  • The outer solar system is in grave danger of going “radio dark” in 2017, when the very successful Cassini mission ends. Outer solar system missions require many years of lead time to plan and execute, and no outer solar system missions are currently planned beyond 2017.
  • Several moons of the outer solar system including Europa may have water oceans and the “ingredients” required for life. By exploring these worlds, we can address one of the most important questions in all of science: Is there life beyond Earth?
  • In direct response to the planetary Decadal Survey, less expensive mission options have been defined to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. Paradigm-changing outer solar system science can accomplished within a cost-constrained planetary program.
  • Planetary science discoveries are a major motivation for students pursuing the Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) careers that propels the U.S. forward.
  • NASA has been working closely with our international partners to development joint missions that lower the overall cost to US taxpayers. Budget cuts have ended our participation in two Mars missions with ESA and seriously endanger participation in ESA's JUICE outer solar system mission.
  • Innovative technologies developed for space have broader utility and impact that benefits all of society.

The FY 2013 budget for NASA Planetary should be restored to and maintained at the congressionally approved FY 2012 level consistent with the planetary decadal study recommendations, NASA should be directed to (in priority order):

  1. Increment the Research & Data Analysis program by 5% relative to FY 2011.
  2. Fund technology development programs at 7-9% of the Planetary Division budget.
  3. Continue to fully fund those missions returning high-value science data.
  4. Restore the “Discovery” program to a 24 month cadence and New Frontiers to a cadence of two missions per decade.
  5. Select one of the recommended flagship missions to Mars or the Outer Planets.

Example Congressional Letter:

The Honorable [Senator/Representative] ______________________

United States Senate/House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 (Senate) 20515 (House)

Dear Senator/Representative ___________________

I am writing you to express my concern about the President’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget for NASA which calls for deep cuts to the nation’s very successful and productive planetary science program. The Planetary Science Division in NASA falls in FY13 to $1.2 billion from a current $1.5 billion, a drop of over 20%. These cuts will force NASA to halt consideration of new missions, retreat from international partnerships, and abandon American leadership of the robotic exploration of the solar system. I urge Congress to restore and maintain planetary science funding at FY 2012 levels of consistent with the recommendations of the National Research Council of the National Academies planetary sciences decadal survey and direct NASA to plan for a program based on continuing funding at the FY 2012 levels. Thank you for considering my views. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance on this issue.

Sincerely,
[Your Name and Address]

More tips on writing letters

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