Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to Senate leaders asking them to “address the challenges faced by the U.S. scientific research workforce during” the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter requests the inclusion of $26 billion in the fourth COVID-19 stimulus package to: supplement and extend research grants and contracts; provide emergency relief for research support personnel and facility operations; and fund additional graduate and postdoc student fellowships, traineeships, and research assistantships.
Thirty-three Senators signed on to the AAU-endorsed letter, which makes recommendations consistent with the AAU-AAMC-APLU-ACE COVID-19 Research Recommendations. Recently, 182 members of the House signed on to a similar bipartisan letter that AAU also endorsed.