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ACS HONORS SENS. BINGAMAN, ROBERTSSenators receive Public Service Award for contributions to science
WORKING FOR SCIENCE Pavlath, Bingaman, McClelland, Busch, Pearce, and Roberts pose with the awards after the ceremony.
KEVIN MACDERMOTT
ACS honored Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) with its distinguished Public Service Award for their contributions to the advancement and development of chemistry and science through public policy. ACS President Attila E. Pavlath, Board Chair Nina I. McClelland, President-Elect Eli M. Pearce, and Immediate Past-President Daryle H. Busch presented the men with crystal obelisks and lauded their efforts at an Oct. 9 ceremony in Washington, D.C., which was attended by ACS Executive Director John K Crum; board members James D. Burke, Glenn A. Crosby, and Maureen G. Chan; executives from other professional associations; Capitol Hill staff members; and several ACS members and staffers.
Bingaman serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, working to strengthen K–12 science and mathematics education and help teachers receive training in new technology that can be used in the classroom.
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TALKING SHOP Pearce and Bingaman share a light moment after the ceremony. |
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FELLOW KANSANS Busch presents the crystal award to Sen. Roberts.
PHOTOS BY KEVIN MACDERMOTT
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He has also championed double-digit funding increases for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. As chairman of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, he is a leader in the effort to shape energy policy. His committee is developing a comprehensive energy bill to ensure that the U.S. has a reliable, environmentally responsible energy supply.
During his acceptance speech, Sen. Bingaman explained his additional sup-port of increased civilian defense research. "The strength of our economy and ability to defend ourselves depend on science and technology, and chemistry in particular," he said.
As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Bingaman has been a strong supporter of increased federal investment in the Department of Defense's science and technology program. In 1999, he and fellow committee member Sen. Roberts partnered to highlight the need for increased research spending by the military, sending a letter signed by 20 senators urging then-president Bill Clinton to include higher funding levels in his 2001 budget request.
Sen. Roberts is also a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, where he has been active in promoting science education, heralding it as "an investment in our future." His efforts have included sponsorship of a companion bill to Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers' (R-Mich.) National Science Education Act and the introduction of a bill to establish tuition tax credits for mathematics and science teachers. He has worked to improve the quality of the nation's mathematics and science teachers and has advocated an expanded role for business in the proposed mathematics and science partnership program included in the Elementary & Secondary Education Act.
Roberts is also a leader in the efforts to increase civilian research. He was one of the original cosponsors of the Federal Research Investment Act of 1999, a bill that would have doubled funding authorizations for civilian research over 11 years.
The Public Service Award was established in 1996 and first given in 1997, under the leadership of then-ACS-president Ronald Breslow, Columbia University, and has been given each year since.
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