Congressional Visits Day

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What is Congressional Visits Day?

The Science-Enginering-Technology Working Group Congressional Visits Day (SET CVD) is a free event that takes place each Spring in Washington, D.C. OSA members join more than 250 of their colleagues from other scientific societies to raise the visibility and support of science, engineering and technology on Capitol Hill.

When is CVD?

On March 12 and 13, OSA members visited Congressional offices for CVD 2013. Highlights included and award presentation to Rep. Honda (D-CA) and Rep. Hanna (R-NY) and meeting Rep. Slaughter (D-NY), Rep. Rush (D-IL), Rep. Hultgren (R-IL) and Sen. Boxer (D-CA).

Members of Congress and their staff talked about sustaining the investments in funding and many recognized the importance of science and technology to job creation and the economy.

Congresswoman Slaughter was so impressed by the working being done in Rochester by OSA Member Jie Qiao to promote women in science; she posted an article about the visit on her blog.

Check out pictures from CVD 2013, and stay tuned for dates and information on CVD 2014!

Why Participate in Congressional Visits?

• The US Congress shapes policy that directly affects scientists, including you in the optics and photonics community.
• America's leaders not only determine government funding levels for research, but they also define what kind of research receives support.
• Lawmakers also determine government support and programs for students including fellowship opportunities and programs at the K-12 level.
• It is important that members of Congress hear directly from their constituents about the importance of these programs to their district, state, and the nation.
• Events like this are a great way for scientist-constituents to advocate directly for issues like increased support and increased funding for:
  • Department of Defense research
  • NSF
  • NIST
  • DOE Office of Science