New from COSSA
Science Community Expresses Concern about Secret Science Reform Act
COSSA is among 43 organizations, led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), who sent letters to the House and Senate expressing concern about the Secret Science Reform Act (H.R. 4012), which is legislation seeking to “prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is specifically identified and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results.” While staying neutral on the political issues that surround EPA’s rule-making process, which…
COSSA Endorses AAAS Statement on Disabilities Treaty Ratification
COSSA has endorsed the statement of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Board of Directors urging the Senate to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Adopted in 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly, the CRPD has been ratified by 146 countries. The U.S. was a signatory on the treaty, but previous attempts to ratify it in the Senate have failed. The Convention may again be brought to the Senate as early as this summer.
COSSA Urges Increased Funding for Transportation Statistics Agency
On July 15, COSSA joined several other national associations on a letter to Transportation Committee chairs and ranking members in the House and Senate urging increased funding for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) at the U.S. Department of Transportation in fiscal year (FY) 2015. As the letter reads, “The BTS is the principal source of timely, accurate, and objective information on the current state, safety, and performance of highway, rail, air, maritime, and pipeline transportation systems.” Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Joins Partners to Urge Senate Support for IES
On July 9, COSSA joined with a number of its member associations and sister coalitions on a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee expressing concern with the House-passed Strengthening Education through Research Act (H.R. 4366), which is legislation to reauthorize the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the Department of Education. As currently written, the bill would “diminish the autonomy, authority, and stature of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)” within IES. The letter urges the Senate to amend the bill “to ensure that NCES data and statistics are objective, independent, and relevant to education…