December 19, 2024: CO-LABS Excecutive Director Dan Powers has sent this letter to Colorado's federal elected officials to urgently stress the negative impacts of a federal government shutdown. We appreciate our members' support in our mission to nurture the ecosystem of federally funded research in Colorado, and look forward to a constructive solution to ensure the federal government's activities remain functioning.
The Honorable Joe Neguse
U.S. House of Representatives
2400 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0602
Dear Representative Neguse,
I’m reaching you on behalf of the CO-LABS network of federally-funded research laboratories and our broad membership spectrum of science- and technology-focused companies, universities and professionals in Colorado, and in CD-2 in particular. We are deeply concerned about the possible federal government shutdown beginning Saturday, December 21, 2024. Your engagement and support of the federal research laboratories in our state is well known among our membership, and we are grateful for all the efforts you are undoubtedly making to ensure an agreement for continued funding is achieved.
As perhaps helpful context to share with your colleagues in Congress, recall that the scientific research projects and data coming from the federal labs in Colorado and across the entire country ensure our most basic societal needs are provided for, such as clean water, food production, extreme weather mitigation and public health programs. Our country’s more aspirational goals such as quantum computing, renewable energy provision and aerospace technologies are ultimately also matters of national security and any kind of government shutdown profoundly impacts our global competitiveness.
More acutely, a shutdown causes massive upheaval to federal research, hobbling projects with academic and private-sector partners. Federal employees cannot do any research, access their equipment, computers or data; they aren’t allowed to email replies, share updates or meet external deadlines as planned - it is a self-inflicted setback to the United States’ innovation leadership that our country cannot afford.
There is also the impact on employees’ lives as their pay is suspended for an unknown amount of time; even worse is the intangible effect of that uncertainly as deeply talented and brilliant scientists and dedicated public servants decide to leave government employment completely. This dissolution of knowledge from our country’s research agencies is absolutely a challenge to our international standing in science.
The range of research within more than 35 federally funded research laboratories and joint institutes in Colorado is a crucial part of our nation’s ability to function responsibly and equitably on behalf of all our citizens. We truly appreciate your efforts to ensure the federal government remains funded, and that taxpayer-funded laboratories continue to manifest the positive and inspiring benefits of science!
Sincerely,
Dan Powers
Executive Director
CO-LABS, Inc.
CC: Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickelooper; Representative Brittany Petersen CO CD-7
CO-LABS, incorporated in 2007, is a 501(c)3 non-profit consortium of federally funded scientific laboratories, research universities and colleges, business leaders and economic development experts organized to nurture and champion Colorado as a global leader in scientific research, technology, and related commercialization of discoveries.
Through lab tour, events, economic analyses, strategic communications and networking activities we work to:
• PROMOTE Colorado’s research ecosystem as a global center in research and technology
• EDUCATE the public about the labs’ impact and importance of sustained funding for research
• CONNECT the labs, universities and businesses to facilitate partnerships and technology transfer
See more at www.co-labs.org.
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