Tools and Links
The ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Office in Washington DC represents the views of agricultural/natural resources/environmental scientists before Congress (U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate), federal agencies and other organizations. Through congressional briefings, testimony, position statements, and meetings with Members and their personal and committee staff, as well as meetings with the White House (Offices of Science and Technology Policy and Management and Budget) and Federal agencies (US Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, Department of Energy Office of Science), the office works to give the agronomic, crop and soil sciences a voice in federal policy.
By speaking with a single voice, the more than 23,000 members of the three Societies and affiliated Certified Crop Advisers can increase the impact of their message and maximize their influence on public policy. Visit our Get Involved page to learn more about how you can be an effective citizen-scientist.
Communicating with Elected Officials
Agronomic, Crop and Soil Science expertise is rare on Capitol Hill. Though a handful of congressional staff members on specific committees may specialize in agricultural, natural resource and environmental issues and principles, in a Member's personal office, in general, one staffer, often with little or no knowledge of agronomy, crop and soil science, will be responsible for handling all science issues with our sciences taking up only a small portion of their time. Therefore, the activities of our Science Policy Office (SPO) are critical if we are to provide the input necessary to develop scientifically sound agricultural policies. Our SPO in Washington, DC, while well-focused and effective, can only have a significant impact if ASA-CSSA-SSSA members back at the districts and states develop personal relationships with members of Congress and their staff: Members pay close attention to what their constituents are telling them. Moreover, as Congress is faced daily with increasingly technical and far-reaching scientific issues, Representatives and Senators must rely on our Societies and members to both provide and interpret this information.
