As the annual appropriations process gets fully underway on Capitol Hill, Congressman Al Lawson joined 172 other House members in a letter to appropriators recommending a $9 billion FY20 budget for the National Science Foundation. The figure would represent an increase of 11.4% over the current NSF budget. The letter touches on the critical role that the basic research funded by NSF plays in promoting national security, public health, and economic growth. FSU is one of the top-10 public university recipients of NSF funding. The final NSF budget for FY20 will emerge after the next several months of negotiations over the overall federal budget and specific agency/program line-items.