May 19, 2010

The Honorable XX
United States House of Representatives 
Washington, DC  20515

Facsimile: (202) XXX:

Dear Congressman XX:

As [Chair of the Department of Computer Science Department/Head of Research/etc] at [my institution] in (your state), I urge you to support strong investments in research and education as you consider the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. As you are well aware, innovation is a key driver of the United States economic success and the research and education investments in the Act lay the foundation for increasing innovation for long-term, stable economic and employment growth and an increasing standard of living. 

The computing research field is a very concrete example of how federal investments in research drive economic growth in both the short and long-term. The field has a long history of creating revolutionary technologies that have enabled entirely new industries and helped drive U.S. leadership in the new economy. Advances in information technology enable productivity growth, enable the economy to run at full capacity, enable goods and services to be allocated more efficiently, and enable the production of higher quality goods and services. As the National Academies of Science have repeatedly pointed out, those advances – indeed, every multibillion-dollar subsector of the IT industry – all bear the stamp of federal support for fundamental research in computing such as that which would be supported by this Act. 

The investments outlined in COMPETES will help ensure the U.S. continues to produce the ideas and the talent that drive American science and industry, creating new technologies, new industry sectors, and new high value jobs. I urge you to support its passage. 

Sincerely,