FAS President’s statement on nationwide demonstrations against police violence.
The demonstrations that we are witnessing across the nation are in direct response to police violence and to systemic racism that has plagued this country from its birth.
All officers responsible for the senseless killing of George Floyd — which follows a pattern of police brutality against countless other black Americans — must be fully prosecuted under the law.
Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other victims will be one step in a long process that is required to bring healing to the country.
The Federation of American Scientists stands with black Americans who have endured centuries of institutional racism that has contributed to everything from disproportionate negative health outcomes in the midst of a pandemic to the killing of unarmed individuals by those who are sworn to protect them.
FAS was created to promote peace and stability throughout the world. As such, we must redouble our own efforts to fight all forms of racism, and to strive for diversity and inclusiveness in our own organization and throughout our community.
No one will be surprised if we end up with a continuing resolution to push our shutdown deadline out past the midterms, so the real question is what else will they get done this summer?
Rebuilding public participation starts with something simple — treating the public not as a problem to manage, but as a source of ingenuity government cannot function without.
If the government wants a system of learning and adaptation that improves results in real time, it has to treat translation, utilization, and adaptation as core functions of governance rather than as afterthoughts.
Coordination among federal science agencies is essential to ensure government-wide alignment on R&D investment priorities. However, the federal R&D enterprise suffers from egregious siloization.