When the partial government shutdown hit day 23, leaders of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) decided maybe Congress hadn’t heard enough from its members about how disruptive the lack of federal funding had become.

So on Jan. 14, FASEB President James Musser emailed a “call to action,” with the subject line, “Tell Congress to End the Shutdown and Get Critical Science Agencies Back to Work.”

The body of the email noted that the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “remain closed and cannot pay current grants, issue new funding, review pending applications, or start new training programs. The longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the negative impact on science.”

As Musser pointed out, “NSF supports all fields of fundamental science and engineering except for medical science and enables the mission of NIH including providing data for ongoing studies, through research collaborations, and supporting students and trainees.”

The email contained a link individuals could use to contact members of Congress from their districts to “pressure” them and “urge them to end the shutdown. Forward this alert to your collaborators and other researchers. It only takes a few minutes but will make sure your voice is heard on Capitol Hill,” Musser said.