Upon last night's opening of the giant pep rally known as the Democratic National Convention, Democrats formally approved their
platform, pledging to double federal funding of basic science research, lift the ban on funding embryonic stem cell research, and make the R&D tax credit permanent. The platform makes these promises against the backdrop of the current Administration's
treatment of science policy.
"We will end the Bush Administration's war on science, restore scientific integrity, and return to evidence-based decision-making," the platform reads. "Research should be based on science, not ideology."
In addition to proposing increased funding to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute, the platform outlines several party plans regarding science and the environment; supporting women in math and science, investing in higher education by creating a $4,000 tax credit for incoming college students, combating climate change by instituting a carbon emission limiting cap-and-trade system, conserving wild lands, and preserving the nation's water resources.
In a
statement issued in July to the Democratic National Committee's platform drafting committee, Research!America's John Porter and
Mary Woolley urged Democrats to invest in research. "In this critical election year, we greatly appreciate the Democratic Party's efforts to make research to improve health a greater national priority," the two wrote. (Research!America issued a similar
statement to the Republican National Committee's platform drafting committee.)
The director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) research-and-development budget and policy program,
Kei Koizumi, approved of the platform.
"If AAAS was putting together a platform for the next four years ... it would look a lot like this platform," Koizumi told
The Chronicle of Higher Education.
I contacted a spokesperson from Research!America, but no one from the organization was able to comment in time for the posting of this story.