Technical Abstract: The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) is a cooperative effort among State, Federal and Private organizations aimed at preserving one of agriculture¿s greatest assets, plant genetic diversity. The NPGS serves the scientific community by collecting, storing, and distributing germplasm as well as maintaining a searchable database of trait descriptors. Serving the NPGS, a Crop Germplasm Committee (CGC) is elected for each crop and is comprised of a group of scientists with a genuine concern in not only the status of germplasm collections, but the care and future of this important food and fiber resource. The CGC serves in an advisory role and provides a status report every seven years to determine scientific efforts, adequacy of germplasm base representation, and progress in breeding through utilization of germplasm. In addition, the committee can call attention to areas of concerns regarding facilities and staffing associated with the maintenance, collection, and taxonomic activities for a specific crop within the system. The following report was submitted by the CGC for cotton and provides a record of collections, activities, concerns, crop vulnerabilities, and recommendations associated with the cotton collection for the period 1997-2005. Several minor changes including citation of germplasm depositions and research activities not included in the original report have been incorporated. The original report is posted on the NPGS website, however, publishing this report will provide a ¿one-stop¿ reference for a broad range of research as well as a citable source for research that otherwise might not be published.