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COSSA is an advocacy organization supported by more than 100 professional associations, scientific societies, universities and research institutions.  COSSA stands alone in representing the full range of social scientists

Download 2005 Annual Report

COSSA turns 25 in 2006 and we look forward to another year of advocacy for the social and behavioral sciences. In the year just past, which this report celebrates, COSSA maintained its efforts to support federal funding for and promote attention to the research in these sciences.

The routines of lobbying for increased congressional appropriations for key agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Census Bureau, the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and the Economic Research Service, continued in their usual fashion with testimony, meetings with congressional and agency staffs, and constituency mobilization. This was done in a year when the Bush Administration, stung by criticism of its profligate spending during the first term, made a determined effort to limit the federal budget.

There were, however, a number of special events, which this report highlights, that marked COSSA’s year. First and foremost was the new leadership at the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate at NSF, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at NIH. The two Davids – Lightfoot at NSF, and Abrams at NIH – arrived in the Spring and COSSA welcomed them with a joyous reception attended by NSF Director Arden Bement, OBSSR’s first director Norman Anderson, and a large representation of the Washington science community.

The responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and the South Asia Tsunami provided the opportunity to discover that social and behavioral scientists are in the forefront of studying how people react to natural disasters. The contributions of these scientists became the focus of a hearing before the House Science Basic Research Subcommittee in November.

COSSA’s commitment to its mission of serving as a bridge between the academic research community and the Washington policy making community has from the beginning included presenting the results of social/behavioral research on Capitol Hill. With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the 2005 COSSA briefings featured researchers discussing geographic management systems, protecting privacy, and transforming the Middle East. These demonstrated to congressional and agency staffs the scope and interdisciplinary nature of the work in the social and behavioral sciences.

As usual, COSSA’s Annual Meeting featured policymakers discussing their activities and interacting with COSSA’s membership. Lightfoot and Abrams, a few months of on-the-job experience behind them, reported on their plans. White House Science Adviser John Marburger reiterated his interest in reinvigorating a “science of science policy” and the important role for the social and behavioral sciences in that activity. In addition, the Honorable Rosa DeLauro, member of the House of Representatives, joined a panel to discuss religion in public policy, organized by former COSSA Executive Committee Chair William D’Antonio.

In 2006, the COSSA Executive Committee and Board have committed to a re-examination of the Consortium’s mission and activities. Whatever the outcome, COSSA will always maintain its efforts to impress upon policymakers the importance of the social/behavioral sciences to the nation’s security and well-being. As always, I would like to thank COSSA’s governing members, membership organizations, universities, and center and institutes, for their continuing support of our important work.

Howard J. Silver

2004

Four more years!  As COSSA ended its 24th year of advocacy for the social and behavioral sciences, President Bush survived a polarizing re-election campaign and helped the Republicans increase their majorities in the Congress.  The election culminated a political year racked by partisanship, nastiness, and war.  Kathleen Frankovic of CBS News came to the COSSA Annual Meeting to explain it all. 

The record dollar deficit continued and combined with the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan, cries for limiting discretionary spending reached a crescendo.  An appropriations process that once again did not finish in time for the start of fiscal year 2005 on October 1, 2004, dragged on past the election.  Another Omnibus Appropriations bill gave the leadership a chance to call the shots and research was not a significant priority.  After the election, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) floated an idea to restructure the appropriations committee, and as Congress turned its focus to the fiscal year 2006 budget, the situation was still in flux.                                        Read more  Adobe Acrobat Reader required

2003

In lieu of my usual summary of COSSA’s activities in the last year, highlights of which can be found on the following pages, we present excerpts from my speech to the COSSA Annual Meeting on November 3, 2003.  It reflects on the changes and non-changes that have occurred during my 20 years at COSSA, 15 of them as Executive Director.

Strengthening COSSA for the Challenges Ahead:  Is the Past Prologue?

...When I came to COSSA in mid-November 1983, the social and behavioral sciences were still struggling with the attacks on it by the Reagan administration.  The severe cuts proposed for these sciences had been mitigated, but not completely eliminated.  Across the government, “social science” became, if not dirty words, words to avoid.  Some of the conservatives who ran the Reagan revolution believed that we were all a bunch of liberals who only wanted government money to study how to spend more government money on programs that did not work.  Twenty years later, some agencies have never fully recovered from that assault – for example, research at the Departments of Labor, HUD, HHS (excluding NIH), and others.  On the other hand, NIH and NSF have prospered and the social and behavioral sciences have joined in that prosperity – a rising tide has lifted all boats – not necessarily to equal levels, but uplifted nonetheless…  Read more   Adobe Acrobat Reader required ( Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM)

2002

The terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 continued to resonate on Washington policymaking throughout 2002.  The heighten interest on homeland security, the war on terrorism, and the identification of an "axis of evil" have led to a new bureaucratic structure, squeezes on spending for non-defense purposes, stresses on the U. S. economy, and foreign policy crises with Iraq and North Korea.

The largest reorganization of the United States since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 generated the new Department of Homeland Security.  Twenty-two agencies from around the government were consolidated to provide coordination and cooperation in protecting the United States from another terrorist attack.  With encouragement from the scientific community, including COSSA, and key members of Congress, led by House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), the new Department includes an Undersecretary for Science and Technology.  President Bush has nominated Charles McQueary, former President of General Dynamics to the post.  Read more

2001

It was a bright and sunny Tuesday morning as people were gathering at the COSSA office for the monthly meeting with the division directors of the National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science directorate (SBE). The participants never got around to discussing the latest NSF events on that September 11; instead, about a dozen folks spent the next few hours huddled around a television watching the dramatic and tragic events of that day unfold.

Three blocks from the White House, we all sensed our vulnerability, and ultimately, good fortune.  In the weeks that followed, COSSA and the rest of Washington joined the country in mourning the loss of life and the family tragedies, in admiring the many acts of courage that took place, and in attempting to make sense of it all. The anthrax that killed people, closed Congressional offices, and created havoc with the mail only added to the anxiety and disruption. . . . Download COSSA's 2001 Annual Report Adobe Acrobat Reader required ( Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM)

2000

The new millennium brought the end of a presidential administration whose eight years provided economic growth, welfare reform, personal diplomacy, government shutdown, battles with a Republican Congress, scandal, impeachment, and enough drama to keep presidential scholars and other social and behavioral scientists busy for many years. . . .  read more Adobe Acrobat Reader required ( Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM)

1999

The work of an advocacy group most often revolves around routines that have been established to accomplish its mission.  For COSSA, whose goal is the promotion of attention to and federal funding for the social and behavioral sciences, this has meant over the years testifying to appropriations committees in Congress, meeting with Congressional and Agency staffs, mobilizing and informing the community, and providing the results of social and behavioral science research to policymakers. . . .read more  Adobe Acrobat Reader required ( Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM)

1998

In 1998 the Washington Community preoccupied itself with the scandal surrounding the President and his subsequent impeachment.  At the same time, Congress and the President continued to clash over policy, in particular how to spend a budget that, after years of deficit, now included a surplus.  As the confrontations grew in both areas, agreement was reached on appropriations, albeit after the fiscal y ear began and again using an omnibus bill that was over 1,000 pages in the Congressional Record.  Despite all the distractions, it actually turned out to be a good year for research funding affecting the social and behavioral sciences. . . read more Adobe Acrobat Reader required ( Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM)