Statement AI Analysis

Statement AI Summary:

A congressman strongly opposes the Trump administrations budget cuts and workforce reductions at the National Science Foundation, emphasizing the critical role of NSF-supported research and education in U.S. scientific leadership and innovation. He highlights the negative impact of canceling grants and reducing investment in STEM programs, warning that such actions threaten Americas future competitiveness in science and technology.

Statement AI Bias Category on Economy and Jobs:

Left-Leaning

Bias of All Statements by Don Beyer on Economy and Jobs:

Statement AI Categories:

Economy and Jobs, Education, Technology and Privacy, Science and Research Policy

Date:

05-15-2025

Pages In PDF Link That Have Statement:

H2086-H2092

Congressional Record PDF:

Actual Statement Made In Congress:

If the member made multiple statements on that day, they were analyzed and accumulated together.

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for putting this together. I really appreciate it. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the Trump administration's attack on our scientific workforce and on science, specifically at the National Science Foundation, located a few blocks from my home. Today, my colleagues and I introduced a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the National Science Foundation. We should be enormously proud to support the work of the NSF. Since 1950, the National Science Foundation has helped the U.S. lead the world in science. It supported the research and key investments that helped catalyze the internet, advanced technology for MRI machines, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence. It created American Sign Language, detected gravitational waves that developed LASIK eye surgery, and much, much more. It has been a cornerstone of our scientific education in the United States, providing support from elementary and prekindergarten right through the Ph.D. level. NSF's prestigious awards draw researchers from across the world to come to the United States to do their work and to study. Best for us, they often stay. The same incredible talent is under attack by this President, who is not only recklessly removing our best scientists from the Federal workforce but also defunding science and the scientific research at our Nation's premier institutions. These are exactly the people who create America's future. In his skinny budget request, the President proposed a $5 billion cut to the National Science Foundation, including $1 billion in STEM education and workforce programs. If that budget request is enacted by Congress, this will be a death knell for our innovation economy and for America's future. I have already been alarmed by the workforce cuts the Trump administration has made over the past months. We are losing our best and our brightest. Some might find jobs in the private sector, but many are likely to be poached by other countries. We hear again and again that many countries are trying to recruit our best and brightest. I know this personally because these cuts have heavily impacted my home. I have had hundreds of constituents, thousands, fired or coerced out of the Federal workforce by the toxic environment that DOGE is intentionally creating. These are professionals who have dedicated their talent, their lives, and their scientific expertise to ensure that the National Science Foundation is advancing the most cutting- edge, innovative research proposals. Mr. Speaker, the last thing we should be doing is losing that talent. I am also deeply alarmed at canceled grants and funding at NSF and our scientific agencies. The Trump administration has cut more than $1 billion in awards this year. Many of these grants were terminated for no reason by the administration. One particularly egregious example was an award on improving the effectiveness of teaching students how to do computer science. Really? At a time when we need to increase our domestic AI and STEM focused workforce, we need students to be familiar with the artificial intelligence systems of tomorrow, so that they can contribute to our continued leadership in tech. Mr. Speaker, I keep looking for examples in history on this retreat from knowledge. There were England's Luddites in the early 19th century who fought the use of new textile technology. There was Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution 1966 through 1976 when intellectuals and scientists were labeled the ``Stinking Old Ninth'' and were sent to reeducation camps in the countryside. For 75 years, the National Science Foundation has kept the U.S. at the forefront of science and has made us the envy of the world. The NSF can claim 268 Nobel Prize winners. Yet now we have a President and an administration that is antiscience and antiprogress. Just as we have made investments in projects that are pivotal in artificial intelligence, quantum, and other leading areas at NIH, NOAA, NASA, the CDC, EPA, and, tragically, the National Science Foundation, now is not the time that we stop investing in our future. This is what the Trump administration is doing. I join my colleagues today to stand up for science, to oppose the administration's attacks on the National Science Foundation, and to fiercely champion our investment in science and knowledge for generations to come.

AI summary and categorization done by an OpenAI GPT model. For more information see: Editorial and Method