Scientific Organizations Take a Stand Against Federal Travel Restrictions

The Honorable Harry Reid Majority Leader, United States Senate S-221, the United States Capitol Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Reid: On behalf of the nation's professional science and technology community, we respectfully request your consideration regarding Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-12-12, which concerns federal employee participation in conferences. The science and technology community supports careful oversight of federal employee meeting and travel expenditures, and the need for fiscal responsibility and transparency in the use of public funds. However, we believe that as OMB Memorandum M-12-12 is currently being interpr eted and implemented, it is having the unintentional consequence of restricting the open exchange of ideas among scientists, engineers, and technologists, and thereby adversely affecting important national interests by throttling back on the U.S. "innovation engine." We ask that you address this issue to prevent Memorandum M-12-12 from being applied in a way that hampers the legitimate and necessary interactions among scientific and technical researchers who work across government, industry, and academia-interactions that drive the advancement of technology that is vital to our economy and our national security. Specifically, we ask that you affirm Congress's support of these open exchanges of information, establishing legislative guidance that exempts federal employee travel to conferences, seminars, and m...
Source: ActionBioscience - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news