As scientists, our passion and commitment is to discover new knowledge. This new knowledge improves our lives, our economy, our environment, and our society. We have experienced four to five decades of unprecedented growth in science investment and scientific discovery. The last decade of the 20th Century witnessed the end of the Cold War--appreciated only in retrospect as a major driver of that discovery and investment--followed by the abrupt halt of the growth of federal investment in science. At the same time, international economic competition has caused a shift in our industrial investment in research from long term to short term, so that now only about 5% of that industrial research is fundamental science. While these two developments are serious and need our attention, even more disturbing is a recent study that shows our nation's children compared to the rest of the world complete high school at the bottom of the scale in mathematics and science achievement.

The health and robustness of scientific endeavor underpins the nation's future. Our community of scientists see the 21st Century as an unparalleled period of development in new fundamental knowledge, of research-based economic growth, of development of human potential through effective life-long learning, of preemptive health care, and of world-wide environmentally-sustainable development. A rapidly growing fraction, now exceeding over two-thirds, of our commercial patents stem from university-based federally sponsored scientific research. Yet our "return on investment" over decades of measurement of federally funded scientific research is 25-50% a year, year after year, still so high that it indicates a significant degree of underinvestment. The growth in that small fraction of our GDP that encompasses the young "high tech" industries accounted for one-third to one-half of national economic growth in the 1990s. Much of this new knowledge and economic oportunity will grow in other nations in the 21st Century. The Nation has the largest economy and started this decade with the largest federal budget surplus in history, due in large part to past federal investments in fundamental science.

In the difficult transition at the end of the 20th Century we faced ongoing rapid readjustments to new political, economic and scientific realities. We have entered an era characterized by new threats that require innovative solutions to maintain our security, freedom and liberty and the greatest environmental threats in centuries. The consequences of deepening national debt and negative trade balances are a dark cloud over future investment in science. The science community will help the Nation to overcome these threats-we are unalterably committed to ensuring that freedom and liberty prevail as the future direction of mankind in a sustainable world.

CSSP is taking responsibility and leadership to establish those policies and programs that will ensure a bright future for 21st Century science. We have established our own goals for the 21st Century: (i) newer understandings of nature, (ii) achieving sustainable systems, (iii) maximizing lifelong learning, (iv) preempting mental and physical disease, (v) vibrant economic systems, (vi) energy autonomy, and (vii) reimagining science as the foundation for creating the most positive futures. We must be vigilant to ensure that we seize every opportunity to make them happen.

CSSP works to ensure a strong scientific future for the nation. CSSP can look back on many achievements and growing influence. CSSP has worked for a public accounting that keeps track specifically of university-based and peer-reviewed research investments and supports an active White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. CSSP keeps in touch with and advises all members of Congress interested in and working on issues relevant to science and mathematics, as well as heads of Federal Agencies regarding their plans and policies for science and technology. This successful activity is made possible through the unique network of the top science leadership worldwide.

Just imagine what scientists' passionate commitment can do to make our lives healthier, our environment healthier and our society healthier! We honor our commitment. Join us in investing in people's future. Support unleashing our imaginations. Our discoveries inspire our next generation of youngsters, will create entirely new kinds of careers for them, will improve our quality of life, open exciting new horizons that expand our freedom, and make a clean, safer, better environment.

We are the constituency for the future and that requires that we perpetually expand the quality of our scientific leadership. Science is hope. We need your help to make it happen.