This week, I am proud to co-chair (with Greg Madejski of KIPAC) the annual SLUO trip to Washington. In conjunction with our colleagues from the FNAL Users’ Group and the U.S. LHC Users’ Group, we bring a message to Washington about the importance of supporting the physical sciences through timely passage of appropriations for FY09. We also will discuss the possibility of a supplemental appropriation for this year, FY08, to undo some of the damage to our national science program and our international standing in science.
This trip, consisting of about 30 people from national and international institutions (10 from SLUO), represents hundreds of combined man-hours of preparation, training, phone calls to Capitol Hill, and deliberation over the message. The message was particularly difficult this year, given that we wanted to hit something truly concrete without inadvertantly repeating last year. In 2007, it was clear that Congress supported the physical sciences, and increasing support to them, but failed to sustain that desire in the difficult and impenetrable Omnibus appropriations process in the fall. We go with the intent of demonstrating the exciting opportunities ahead of U.S. science, particularly in particle and astrophysics, as well as emphasizing how we can easily lose these opportunities without a budget that puts us back on the rails.
I’ll be keeping my personal thoughts on the trip in my personal blog (see link under “Blogroll”), and I’ll post a more refined “executive summary” when the trip is done.