I urge you to oppose the Collins-Nelson proposal's 100% cut of the $1.402
billion line item for the National Science Foundation in HR 1, the American
Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  Hanging in the balance is the well-being of the
state's universities and the economies that they support.

This is not an abstract issue for me.  I am a university faculty member and my
research proposal on autism has remained unfunded despite two years of strong
recommendations by NSF review panels.  If the NSF line item is preserved in HR
1, our project will begin spending within the next several months, directly
creating one more full-time job and also making purchases of technology and
services that will indirectly fund others' employment.  This is, of course, the
whole point of the stimulus.

For Massachusetts's universities, for its economy in general, and for its
people, preserving the NSF line item in HR 1 is the right thing to do.  I trust
that you'll do all that you can to make it happen.