Finally, if convenient, we would also welcome hearing from those of you who participate in this initiative. Please send us an e-mail at natale@tms.org and let us know to which Senators and Representatives you mailed letters. It would help our efforts and impact greatly.

SAMPLE LETTER (cut and paste)

February [date], 2004 Dear [Senator or Congressman]: I am writing to you as a constituent in the city of [city] in [state]. On the occasion of the ninth annual Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visit Day, on March 4, 2004, you are likely to be visited by one or more of the 200 scientists, engineers, and technologists that have traveled to Washington, DC, from around the country to see you. My friends and colleagues are visiting you to deliver the message that federally funded research is the foundation of the nation’s future and is vital to our security, prosperity, health, and future workforce. We materials specialists want to amplify this message by describing the key enabling role played by materials science and engineering. Why do you need to listen to this message from your constituents and other concerned scientists and engineers? Because you need to hear first hand how the federal policies that you shape by your actions affect the American science and engineering enterprise and, by extension, our National security and competitiveness. Although you may have seen from various sources that the federal R&D investment is at record levels, this is only because of growth in the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Institutes of Health and because of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, the major sponsors of physical sciences and engineering research—the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the DOD science and technology programs, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology—have seen, at best, flat budgets (declining in real dollars) for the past decade! These programs are critical to the development of innovative technology, developing our future technical workforce, and the growth of our economy In addition, as a conscientious elected official, you certainly know and are concerned about the well-publicized flight of manufacturing jobs to off-shore locations where astonishingly low wages can be paid to eager workers. [Place a key example here that comes from your own state or congressional district if possible.] As materials professionals who work to support many of these manufacturing jobs, we are all concerned about how to stem this tide and to retain well-paid jobs in this country. Our concern is for the good of our country’s economic base and for the health of our industrial backbone, the manufacturing sector. What do we offer as a key advantage for the retention or re-location of manufacturing plants in the U.S.? The answers are not obvious, but the challenge is definitely real. If you think that a highly skilled workforce and job creation through technology innovation are exclusive advantages that only the US can offer, a most disturbing message was delivered recently by a group of Nobel Prize winners in a letter to President Bush: “The growth in expert personnel abroad, combined with the diminishing number of Americans entering the physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering . . . is leading corporations to locate more of their R&D activities outside of the United States.” As an elected legislator who authorizes and appropriates our federal tax dollars, you need to see the link between these trends. One may draw the conclusion that insufficient funding of the physical sciences and engineering research in the last decade has allowed the rest of the world (who have concentrated many resources on educating their best and brightest in this area) the chance to become more competitive in the conduct of technology creation and refinement. The time is now for action to ensure the future economic well-being of our country. Please listen to my friends and colleagues as they tell you their stories about the impact of materials science and engineering on jobs in your district and cast your vote to promote the conduct of physical science and engineering research. Thank you for your consideration of this letter and these critical issues. Sincerely, [your name] [your signature]