Hill Day March 2024 - Johns Hopkins Science Policy & Diplomacy Group (JHSPDG)
The Johns Hopkins Science Policy & Diplomacy Group is organizing a Capitol Hill Day to advocate for science policy intiatives in meetings with members of Congress. We have a limited number of spots to invite passionate individuals to join one of three important intiatives. These initiatives are:
  • Keep STEM Talent Act: The Keep STEM Talent Act of 2023 is a bipartisan piece of legislation proposing to remove the green card limits for international graduates of U.S. institutions with STEM degrees. It would also allow students to apply for permanent resident status while retaining their student visa, providing more residency security as students near graduation (dual-intent). We believe it is beneficial to provide a direct avenue to permanent residency for STEM students training in the United States and who wish to continue to contribute to U.S. STEM industries and academia after graduating. The Keep STEM Talent Act has gone through multiple iterations and has been perpetually stuck being reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee, so we are going to advocate for the bill to move forward and be brought to a committee vote and subsequent floor vote in both the U.S. House and Senate.
  • Women's Health Research: Sex-specific research has traditionally been biased towards male health, and because of this, diseases primarily affecting women have been understudied. Additionally, anonymity regulations governing large patient datasets typically prevent the release of patient sex with data, which greatly limits the ability to perform largescale analysis of sex-specific disease data. The Biden administration has launched a women's health research initiative, but this is without legislative support in Congress. We have designed approaches for Congress to support women's health research and data availability, and we will meet with legislators to ask them to introduce these motions into spending packages and new bills.
  • Support for Alternative Proteins:  Alternative proteins is an emerging food tech sector that encompasses plant-based proteins, fermentation, and cultivated foods to address environmental, animal welfare, nutritional, and food security issues. The PLANT Act was introduced in late July 2023 to expand the plant-based foods sector and opportunities for farmers who produce plant-based ingredients, as well as to increase support for food companies and provide more support for USDA efforts to export plant-based foods. We will be meeting with members of Congress asking them to cosponsor this bill in order to increase the likelihood that the bill is enacted into law.
Please fill out the below form to be considered for one of our Hill Day groups. You do NOT need to be a U.S. citizen to apply; all JHU graduate students are welcome. 

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis during different stages of the process leading to Hill Day, so apply soon. If selected, you may be contacted soon based on the group's needs. Alternatively, you may receive an invitation in late February to join closer to Hill Day if your group currently has sufficient members. Early applications are highly encouraged and you may be invited to join at any point until our visit in March.

Please contact Brendon Davis at bdavi119@jhu.edu with questions regarding Hill Day. If you are interested in other Johns Hopkins Science Policy and Diplomacy Group events, you can visit our website or email us at jhscipolgroup@gmail.com. Thank you for your time!
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What is your name? *
What is your JHU email? *
What school/division are you in? *
What campus/city are you primarily based out of? *
What is your degree and program? (eg. Ph.D. in the CMDB Biology program) *
Have you participated in a Hill Day before? *
Required
We are sending three groups to advocate for different causes. Please see above for complete descriptions of each initiative. Please rank these initatives based on which you would like to work on.
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First Choice
Second Choice
Third Choice
Not interested in this initiative
Keep STEM Talent Act
Women's Health Research
Support for Alternative Protein Choices
The following questions refer only to your first choice initiative. In up to 300 words, please describe why you are passionate about your top choice.

Responses automatically generated by AI will not be accepted. Please write your own responses.
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In up to 300 words, describe what experiences or expertise you have that would contribute to crafting an argument and advocating to members of Congress regarding your first choice intitative. This does not have to be directly related to science policy advocacy or your top choice initiative; we are interested in your experiences that may provide you with applicable skills for our advocacy efforts. *
If you are chosen to join Hill Day, you will be asked to attend a JHSPDG policy memo writing workshop as well as a Hill Day training session, both in February 2024 (exact data and time TBD). These will be held on the Homewood campus in Baltimore, with a hybrid Zoom option if necessary. By clicking here, you understand that you will need to attend these sessions if chosen for Hill Day. *
Hill Day will most likely be scheduled for a weekday while Congress is in session March 5-22, pending the availability of members of Congress. By clicking here, you understand that if chosen for Hill Day, you must do everything in your power to make yourself available on the scheduled Hill Day. *
Are there any days March 5-22 during which you know you cannot be free to attend Hill Day at the U.S. Capitol? *
Which congressional district do you live in? For example, Baltimore city is Maryland's 7th. You can use this tool to find your district. *
Which congressional district do you currently work in?
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Which other congressional districts have you previously lived in and for how long? For example: Previously lived in Washington 5th (18 years), Washington 7th (4 years), Iowa 1st (2 years)
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In addition to applications, we are seeking short responses from students interested in supporting the Keep STEM Talent Act of 2023 through testimonials. As a bill that affects graduates of STEM programs, particularly international students, your voice is very important for this issue. Please click this link for more information and to express your feelings regarding the Keep STEM Talent Act. This initiative does not have to be your top choice to respond to the testimonial request.

NOTE: Whether you respond to the testimonial form will NOT affect your Hill Day application in any way. The purpose of this is to make applicants aware of an additional way they can support this initiative.
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