The U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) released an appropriations bill containing language that would block implementation of the 2022 updated OSTP policy guidance (the Nelson Memo) that would ensure immediate, free access to taxpayer-funded research. If enacted, this will prevent American taxpayers from seeing the benefits of the more than $90 billion in scientific research that the U.S. government funds each year.
The House of Representatives is considering this troubling provision to block taxpayer access to research. Now is the time to tell Congress to remove Section 552 of the House Commerce, Justice, and Science bill!
Take Action: Tell Congress to Remove Section 552
Write to Congress
Look up contact details for your Representatives and Senators, then customize the text in this template letter.
Call Congress
Look up contact details for your Representatives and Senators, then call the office and tell them to remove Section 552 of the House CJS bill.
Post on Social Media
Engage your Representatives and Senators on the social media platforms that you use. You can find the handles for members of Congress on the following social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon.
Copy and paste or customize the sample posts below. Make sure to use “#taxpayeraccess to research” in your posts!
Hey [mention Senator/Rep]! Don’t block my #taxpayeraccess to research! My taxes paid for this research and I should be able to access it for free. Remove Sec. 552 of the CJS bill
Taxpayers deserve access to the science they fund. [Mention Senator/Rep], remove Sec. 552 from the CJS bill and re-open #taxpayeraccess to research
Hey [mention Senator/Rep]! Sec. 552 of the CJS bill shuts the door on #taxpayeraccess to research! Remove Sec. 552 to ensure the American public can benefit from the research they fund
Background
On July 13th, the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) released an appropriations bill that blocks implementation of the Office of Science & Technology Policy’s (OSTP) Memorandum to make taxpayer-funded research immediately available for the public to freely access and fully use. Met with overwhelming public support, the memorandum marks the first time U.S. taxpayers will have immediate access to the research results their tax dollars have paid for.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) did not include the damaging provision in their bill, setting up a potential conference negotiation on the language between the two chambers.
The House language is on page 128 of the CJS bill:
SEC. 552. None of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to implement, administer, apply, enforce, or carry out the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s August 25, 2022, Memorandum to Executive Departments and Agencies entitled, ‘‘Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.
