Today was a long, long day. Jodi and I got out of bed around 5:00, got ready and ate breakfast, just in time to gulp my coffee and pack the car for the trip to the airport. I spent the night in a fitful sleep, waking up about once an hour – I can’t lie, I am very anxious about this trip. I think it’s going to go very well, but like a player before the first ballgame of the year I’ve got butterflies from here to the outfield. We’ve come through so much, as a field, since the Omnibus bill was passed for FY08.
What we, as users, will do here in Washington in the next few days cannot reverse the choices of Congress from last year. We cannot restore those friends and colleagues laid off in recent weeks, and we cannot restore the time to experiments already truncated. We alone cannot get this nation back on the path to a secure future.
We can remind Congress about how much they valued science last year, until the Omnibus. We can form relationships and find allies in the Congress, and make ourselves allies to them in the days ahead. We can find a way back, together. I only hope we listen as much as we talk, if not more so. We have a lot to learn, and much to say to Congress. Wish us luck.
