[STS-L] NBII appropriations needs your support

[Alison Ricker <Alison.Ricker@oberlin.edu>]

Dear colleague,
I am forwarding this message, which you may have received on other 
lists, on behalf of the STS Government Information Committee.  It is a 
lengthy, and important, message regarding the appropriations proposed 
(representing a decrease of $2.9 million) for *NBII: National Biological 
Information Infrastructure <http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt>. 
*http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt
I hope this resource is familiar to you, and one that you agree deserves 
our support.  Please share it with teachers and other users of the 
database, and encourage their support as well.  If you have specific 
suggestions for a letter that the Government Information Committee could 
send on behalf of the STS, please reply to co-chairs Matt Marsteller 
matthewm@andrew.cmu.edu and Damon Austin daustin@umd.edu. 
Alison Ricker
Oberlin College
**

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Catriona Macdonald wrote:

> Dear NBII Partner:
>
> Thank you very much to those of you who have written support letters.  We
> appreciate your help and your sending us copies.  For those of you who
> haven't yet written, we need your help before May 23rd.  Here's why:
>
> As you know, the President's Budget Request for the NBII for FY 2009 is
> currently under consideration by the House and Senate Interior 
> Appropriations
> subcommittees.  The President has requested a $2.9 million cut to NBII.
>
> Some time in the next three weeks or so, the Appropriations Committee 
> will
> likely assign funding allocations to each of its subcommittees, 
> including the
> subcommittee on Interior Appropriations.  At that point, the staff 
> will begin
> work on their version of the FY 2009 funding bill.  That work is 
> likely to
> begin in earnest the week of May 23rd, when Members will be at home 
> for the
> district work period.  Some time in June, the House Interior subcommittee
> will probably begin its process of "marking up," or proposing and 
> amending,
> the legislation.  It's not yet clear at what point the bills may go to 
> the
> House or Senate floor for a vote.
>
> As you may know, the President has already said he will veto any 
> legislation
> that puts domestic discretionary spending above the level set in his
> proposals.  The Congressional budget is likely to exceed the President's
> allocation of funds for domestic programs by about $22 billion again this
> year.  Instead of negotiating with the President and cutting back their
> proposals by $22 billion, Congressional leaders have already said that 
> they
> will do a continuing resolution (CR) through early 2009 and negotiate 
> with
> the next Administration.  For this reason, some people have suggested 
> that
> the appropriations bill to be developed this spring is meaningless and it
> doesn't matter what NBII or other programs are allocated in this bill.
>
> When the new President is sworn in on January 20th, the new 
> Administration
> will have approximately two weeks to prepare the initial FY 2010 
> budget that
> must be submitted (probably not in full detail) to Congress on the first
> Monday in February.  At that point, neither the Administration nor 
> Congress
> is likely to want to spend huge amounts of time re-writing the FY 2009 
> bills.
> Therefore, the FY 2009 bills that move through Congress this spring and
> summer are, in fact, critically important:  they are likely to serve 
> as the
> blueprint for the final FY 2009 deal with the new Administration.  
> While the
> new Administration (Democratic or Republican) will certainly make 
> changes to
> those bills, it is unlikely that anyone will have time fundamentally to
> re-write them.
>
> It is critically important for us to deliver to the Interior 
> Appropriations
> subcommittee the greatest number of support letters possible prior to the
> Memorial Day recess that begins on May 23rd.  Thank you to those of 
> you who
> have already written letters and sent us copies.  For your 
> convenience, we
> have attached [SEE BELOW fs] to this email a draft outline of a letter
> (lobbying and non-lobbying versions are provided) and addresses for
> potential recipients in Congress and the Department of Interior.
>
> If you have any questions, or need any assistance, please don't 
> hesitate to
> let Bonnie, Jack or myself know.  Thank you again for your help.
>
> Catriona
>
> NBII Coalition
> 700 12th St. NW, Suite 700
> Washington, DC 20005
> 866-443-0998 MAIN
> 202-345-3334 MOBILE
> 202-478-2086 FAX
> CMacdonald@LinchpinStrategies.com

SAMPLE LETTER:

SAMPLE LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR NBII - PLEASE PUT ON YOUR ORGANIZATION'S
LETTERHEAD

See List of Possible Addressees, at end of sample letter

DATE

Dear :

I am writing on behalf of the (organization or program name) to express my
support for our valuable partnership with the National Biological
Information Infrastructure, or NBII, at the Department of Interior US
Geological Survey.

The (organization or program name) has been working with the NBII for
(length of time).  As a result of this partnership, we have: (give brief,
layperson's description of the work you do/did and why it is important or
what impact it will have).

(Description of the NBII contribution to the effort.)

If it were not for the NBII's participation in the project, (describe what
would happen if the NBII were no longer able to partner with you).

(If permitted, you may insert some or all of the following:)

I am extremely concerned by the proposed $2.9 million, or 40%, cut in the
NBII budget for the coming year.  If enacted, this cut would severely
undermine the NBII's ability to perform its core mission and support our
partnership.  I urge your support for an increase of $4.4 million above
the FY '09 President's Budget request, which would restore the NBII to its
FY '06 funding level of $8.3 million.

Thank you for your time and attention.  If you have any questions
regarding the work we do or our partnership with the NBII, please feel
free to contact me at the number above.

Sincerely,

(Signature)

CC:  Gladys Cotter, Associate Chief Biologist for Information
CC: NBII Coalition

Possible Addressees:

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Mail Stop 7229
Washington, DC 20240

Gladys Cotter
Associate Chief Biologist for Information
US Geological Survey National Center
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Mail Stop 201
Reston, VA 20192

The Honorable Norman Dicks, Chairman
House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations
B-308 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Todd Tiahrt, Ranking Member
House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein, Chairman
Senate Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations
132 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Wayne Allard, Ranking Member
Senate Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations
125 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

--
Alison Ricker, Science Librarian
Oberlin College Science Center Library
119 Woodland St., Oberlin OH 44074
www.oberlin.edu/library/science
440-775-5146 (voice) 
440-775-5152 (fax)
alison.ricker@oberlin.edu