From left: Sen. David Vitter with ASA member Jim Cochran

Several teams met their senators. Sen. Mike Johanns gave Walt Stroup of Nebraska an office copy of The New York Times (with the statistics article) as a keepsake to motivate his graduate students. Sen. Ben Cardin greeted the Maryland team before going to the Senate floor to cast his vote on the Sotomayor nomination, and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter met with Cochran for nearly 30 minutes.

ASA President-elect Sastry Pantula brought reporting to a new level in Tweet-like emails from his Treo. Within minutes of the conclusion of the North Carolina team’s meeting in Sen. Kay Hagan’s office, I knew the staffer had taught AP Statistics and said, in effect, that the NIH is important, but it may not be the right political climate for a 4% increase. I was also among the first to learn that the “Pennsylvania folks got tickets to hear the Sotomayor debate.”

Beyond learning that a staffer had a significant background in statistics, the participants found other ways to relate. Stroup reported that Nebraska colleague Dave Marx connected with one staffer because of a course Marx taught, Statistics in Sports, which served as a segue into statistical literacy. Marx connected with another staffer because of his research on water resources. Stroup also took advantage of projects he is working on, including an NSF grant called NebraskaMATH that targets underserved areas and a project to address rural economic development, the University of Nebraska Rural Initiative.

Many participants told me in their follow-up emails how much they enjoyed their experiences, which I hope will encourage other ASA members to participate in future congressional visits. Rudoy said, “I had great fun not only meeting the staffers on the Hill, but also getting to know the statisticians in my state!” Horton explained, “It was fabulous to have such an energized group to travel with.” Arne Bathke of Kentucky also commented, saying, “Overall, I think this was a very worthwhile endeavor. And, we had plenty of fun along the way, too!” Furthermore, as Jana Asher of Maryland indicates in “Statistics Cited,” some of the enjoyment happened through side trips.

Reflecting a more personal feeling of her day on the Hill that also captures my experiences with Hill meetings, Asher said the following:

Next Steps

Addressing this year’s JSM theme, “Statistics: From Evidence to Policy,” Morton described the path from evidence to policy as a journey and emphasized the need for statistics. Of course, the ASA’s efforts to better integrate statistics and statisticians into policymaking is also a journey, along which the congressional visits were one step. To help realize the asks of the visits, much work remains. Participant Yunxiao He of Indiana summarized this well when he said, “It was a good start. We planted some seeds. We need to provide water and sunshine diligently for a while in order to see the blooming flowers.”

Nichols, other ASA staff members, and I will work with the participants to follow up with the congressional offices and promote statistical literacy through legislative vehicles. We’ll also pursue other routes for promoting statistical literacy, such as work with local and state governments and private organizations to include more statistics in curriculum and assessment.

Instrumental in the promotion of ASA science policy is the support of ASA leadership. Not only did Morton call for more involvement of statisticians in informing policy in her JSM address, she and the 2008 and 2010 presidents participated in the congressional visits, as did many ASA Board members. Indeed, Pantula said, “I personally believe that advocacy is important for our profession, and members of our association are the folks [who] can make our voices heard. If we do not act and convey our message, we will always be viewed as number people sitting in a dark room with piles and piles of dusty files, rather than as key scientists who drive innovation.”

Much remains to be done. With JSM not scheduled to return to Washington, DC, before at least 2015, we must find ways to continue our interaction with Congress by exploring visits with members of Congress in their state or district offices and taking advantage of ASA members being in Washington, DC, for other meetings. We also must find ways to increase participation in future congressional visits to better represent the ASA’s membership. Several participants commented on the value of having students as part of the teams, but also noted the absence of applied and consulting statisticians and the need to have more institutions and industry represented.

Finally, going back to Morton’s call for the ASA to inform policy—especially with the Obama Administration so receptive to statistics—we must further explore avenues for the ASA to be part of policymaking. ASA policy papers are one such vehicle that I’ve mentioned in the past, but such papers require significant amounts of time. We must find ways to mobilize our resources for such activities, and I will continue to strive to ultimately make these part of ASA science policy activities.

ASA Science Policy Actions

Five “Statistical Significance” (StatSig) pieces were finalized in time for the ASA congressional visits.

The ASA president sent a letter to Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren regarding federal statistical agencies.

The ASA signed onto a letter to senators in support of peer review in reaction to House action defunding three NIH grants.

The ASA president and executive director sent a letter to the University of Central Florida president and provost regarding the proposed closure of the statistics department.

The ASA signed onto a letter to Rep. Rush Holt and Rep. David Obey for their support of a $5 million increase for the Department of Education Math and Science Partnership program.

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