Congressional Physicists Fuse Efforts

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 25 -- On his hectic first day on Capitol Hill ascongressman-elect, Democrat Rush Holt of New Jersey made time tovisit a Republican — Rep. Vernon Ehlers of Michigan.

Ehlers at the time was the first and only research physicistever to serve in Congress. Holt was about to become the second.

“We joked [that] if we can find a room with a chalkboard, we’llset up a bipartisan physics caucus,” Holt said after the 1998meeting.

Teaming Up

Turns out, they weren’t joking. Holt and Ehlers have become theScience Guys of Congress, joining forces across party lines tosupport research and science education.

Working together, they added language to an education fundingflexibility act to prevent schools from spending less on math andscience.

They opposed legislation jeered by many scientists that wouldrequire most taxpayer-funded research to be made public uponrequest.

They fought for an amendment giving science equal billing withreading and math in federal Title I programs for disadvantagedstudents.

They co-hosted a breakfast honoring the U.S. team competing inthe International Physics Olympiad and a discussion with theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers on how to improve science,math, engineering and technology teaching in high schools.

“We work well together,” Ehlers said. “It’s unfortunate we’renot in the same party. That would help even more.”

Said Holt, “A lot of people recognize that we’ve spent yearsthinking about science education and the role of research insociety.”

Other Distinguished Members

Ehlers, in his fourth term, is comfortably ensconced in theHouse. But Holt, a freshman, is one of the Republican Party’s toptargets this fall. His opponent is former Rep. Dick Zimmer, whorepresented the district until 1997 and says Holt has proven to betoo big a fan of federal spending.

Ehlers said he has received no pressure from his party to stopcooperating with his Democratic colleague.