Additionally, in spite of efforts by House and Senate appropriations chairs to move the annual spending bills individually through "regular order," something that hasn't happened in recent memory, it is becoming increasingly likely that the FY 2015 endgame strategy will include a catch-all omnibus bill during the lame duck session this fall. As you will recall, a number of appropriations bills, including the measures that fund the National Science Foundation, Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice and other agencies important to the COSSA community, were making their way through the process when progress was halted in the Senate over an impasse on how to address amendments. While little additional progress is expected the rest of the summer, discussions may continue behind the scenes to start preparing for an omnibus after the elections.  

The three bills is the House comprising the House's piecemeal approach are the Empowering Students through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act (H.R. 4984), the Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act (H.R. 4983), and the Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act (H.R. 4982), the latter being the only bill with Democratic cosponsors. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) has said that he expects the House to vote on these three bills sometime before the November elections. 

The Vannevar Bush Award is given to leaders "who have made exceptional contributions toward the welfare of humankind and the nation through public service activities in science, technology, and public policy." The Public Service Award honors individuals or groups who have made "substantial contributions to increasing public understanding of science and engineering in the United States," such as through education and training, social media, and other areas.  

The FDA plans to implement the strategic priorities through a tiered planning framework. The agency's senior leadership will integrate the priorities into the annual budget priority setting and formulation processes, and implementation planning. The current FDA Strategic Priorities FY 2011-2015 document is available on the agency's website.

Comments may be submitted electronically or in writing addressed to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Read on for more details. 

As the report states, Congressional interests lie in "further[ing] the benefits of science for the U.S. economy and the advancement of other national goals-in particular, keeping the nation in the forefront of global competition for new technologies and other innovations," with a particular emphasis on "measures that could serve to increase the translation of research into commercial products and services." The Committee's study found that while measures can be used to quantify research outputs in certain respects, "current measures are inadequate to guide national-level decisions about what research investments will expand the benefits of science," noting that metrics are used to assess specific aspects of research in isolation without understanding the broader scientific enterprise.

Assuming a system-level understanding of the enterprise is in place, the Committee concludes that societal benefit from federal investment in research can be enhanced by focusing on three pillars: (1) a talented and interconnected workforce; (2) adequate and dependable resources; and (3) world-class basic research in all major areas of science. 

The current budget situation, the town hall speakers noted, does not look good for any increase, significant or otherwise, to NDD spending. With costs increasing for areas of mandatory spending, such as healthcare for veterans, and limits imposed by sequestration and the Budget Control Act, it is likely that NDD spending will remain flat or see small decreases. Flat spending, the speakers pointed out, is a de facto decrease since funding will not keep up with inflation. It is also expected that a short (4 to 6 week) continuing resolution (CR) will be passed in September to allow additional time to complete the FY 2015 appropriations bills.

The other half of the discussion focused on the dangers presented by a new constitutional convention and the possibility of a balanced budget amendment. A balanced budget amendment - something often discussed but which is typically a nonstarter legislatively speaking - would be devastating to NDD spending. With mandatory spending and national defense likely to receive the most protection from cuts, such an amendment would be far worse than sequestration for NDD. However, a somewhat unnoticed threat is also looming: a new constitutional convention. Many states and organizations (mostly those driven by corporate interests) have pushed for a constitutional convention largely on the impetus of passing a balanced budget amendment. So far, eight states have passed resolutions and applications are present in 23 others. NDD United warns that a constitutional convention would produce unpredictable results that could be far worse than a balanced budget amendment. They are urging stakeholders to work with state-level partners to inform state and local legislators of the dangers of a new constitutional convention. 

Nominations are due by September 1, 2014.  

1. "Statistics/statisticians can help to make important advances on OSTP priorities;
2. The most productive approach will involve multidisciplinary teams of statisticians, domain scientists, and others (e.g., computer scientists);
3. There is a need to attract, train, and retain the next generation of statisticians so as to contribute to all interdisciplinary research challenges."

The white papers are available on the website of ASA's magazine Amstat News:

• Discovery with Data: Leveraging Statistics with Computer Science to Transform Science and Society
• Statistical Research and Training Under the BRAIN Initiative
• Statistical Science: Contributions to the Administration's Research Priority on Climate Change

In addition, the report from a 2013 workshop conducted as part of the International Year of Statistics was recently released. The paper, Statistics and Science: A Report of the London Workshop on the Future of the Statistical Sciences, covers how statistics is used in the modern world as well as current trends and future challenges in statistics (with a special focus on big data). The report concludes that "the view of statistics that emerged from the London workshop was one of a field that, after three centuries, is as healthy as it ever has been, with robust growth in student enrollment, abundant new sources of data, and challenging problems to solve over the next century."