April 20, 2020

The Honorable Grace Meng U.S. House of Representatives 2209 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515	The Honorable Kamala Harris U.S. Senate 112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Tammy Duckworth U.S. Senate 524 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510	The Honorable Mazie Hirono U.S. Senate 713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Dear Representatives Meng and Senators Harris, Duckworth and Hirono:

As professional scientific organizations, we know the power of collective action to solve problems -- it is how research has advanced for centuries. Today, we stand united in a spirit of diversity and inclusion and offer our support for people of Asian ancestry, rejecting efforts to ascribe fault for the pandemic, and instead urge a focus on leveraging global human diversity to solve today’s public health crisis. The organizations below applaud and support your Congressional resolutions to denounce anti-Asian discrimination as related to COVID-19.

Our societies have been concerned by news reports that individuals of Asian ancestry are increasingly subject to stigma, physical attack, or suspicion due to the potential origins of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These actions are wrong and unacceptable for their racial overtones, their impact on societies and individuals, and run counter to the core values of the scientific community and the members we represent. As scientists, we know viruses respect no borders, and originate and evolve worldwide.

We encourage global leaders and the public to recognize and tap global diversity as one of our greatest assets to solve the global pandemic, including the vital role of U.S. researchers of Asian ancestry and those worldwide. Researchers are joining with clinicians and citizens of all nationalities and ancestries to coordinate a response. We are working across specialties and sectors to understand the novel coronavirus pathogen, develop new treatments, provide medical care, protect citizens and economies, and care for loved ones.

Finally, just as pandemics are global, investment in science must be as well. Solutions for COVID-19 will emerge from the scientific knowledge made possible through decades of research underway worldwide. Sustained and growing research investment is essential for solving today’s public health crisis and will be vital to preventing and managing future ones.

Together, we will urge our members to use their prominent voices to support this resolution; denounce these trends; support more research worldwide, including directed to the issues emphasized in your resolution; and stress the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. We thank you and stand with you. If we can provide additional data, support or information to you regarding the resolution, please contact Joanne Carney, Chief Government Relations Officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Anatomy
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
American Association of Geographers
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Astronomical Society
American Educational Research Association
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Mathematical Society
American Physical Society
American Physiological Society
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society for Cell Biology
American Society for Investigative Pathology
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Nutrition
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
American Society of Human Genetics
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Sociological Association
Association for Molecular Pathology
Association for Psychological Science
Association for Women in Science
Association of Population Centers
Association of Science and Technology Centers
AVS
Biophysical Society
Council of Scientific Society Presidents
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Ecological Society of America
Entomological Society of America
Federation of American Scientists
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Geological Society of America
OSA-The Optical Society
Population Association of America
Research!America
Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for the Study of Reproduction
The American Association of Immunologists
The American Institute of Physics (AIP)
USP
 

cc:        
Kelvin Droegemeier, OSTP and NSF
Francis Collins, NIH
Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus