1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

I am a New Jersey resident writing to urgently request that you oppose the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) plan to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and remove 900 critical deep-sea monitoring instruments. This "descoping" plan destroys a $368 million taxpayer-funded network that provides invaluable subsurface data. For a coastal state like ours, losing these instruments means losing the ability to accurately forecast severe weather, track rising ocean temperatures, and monitor marine heatwaves. This data directly protects our coastal infrastructure, tourism, and local commercial fisheries from unpredicted ecological disruptions. Scuttling this vital infrastructure to satisfy short-term budget cuts is fiscally irresponsible. I urge you to ensure the final Fiscal Year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill includes explicit line-item protection and mandatory funding for the OOI, legally barring the NSF from dismantling our nation's deep-sea monitoring network.