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AAAS Resolution:
Maintenance and Improvement of Federal Statistical Programs
Whereas statistics produced by agencies of the Federal Government are vital to research, policy formulation, and public and private decision making in areas as diverse as economics, demography, health, education, transportation, energy, agriculture, foreign relations, and military intelligence activities, and
Whereas decreases in budgets for federal statistical programs, together with initiatives to reduce the burden of federal reporting, to deregulate in a number of areas, and to institute user charges, will adversely affect the quality, the availability, and the utility of federal statistics, and
Whereas reductions in resources for federal statistical policy and coordination functions in recent years have substantially weakened the government's ability to evaluate and improve high-priority statistical programs,
Therefore be it resolved that the AAAS Council supports the continuing efforts of its affiliates and cognate organizations to increase the understanding of the need for sound statistical measurement, and
Be it further resolved that the AAAS Council call upon the Administration and Congress to recognize the centrality of quality statistical information systems and data bases of strategic national importance concerning the state of the economy and the state of technology, and to ensure the existence of a viable authoritative, and independent unit to fulfill the needs for coordinating federal statistics and for maintaining and improving their quality and integrity. [Adopted by the AAAS Council, May 30, 1983.]
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