Comment from Jonathan Kujawa

[200.202(e), 200.220] To Whom it May Concern: I am a professor of mathematics with over twenty years of experience in research, teaching, and mentoring. I am writing in my personal capacity to oppose the proposed revisions to sections 200.202(e) and 200.220 that would restrict international scientific collaboration and isolate American scientists. Mathematics is a truly international discipline, with collaborations frequently spanning continents. In recent years, I have had collaborations with citizens of China, Taiwan, Germany, and Russia, along with many US citizens. Losing the ability to work with the world leaders in my field would have a large impact on the quality and productivity of my research program. It would also serve little purpose, as my work is published and publicly available. It would allow others to use my work for their research while preventing me from benefiting from their expertise. I regularly participate in conferences, workshops, research institutes, and similar opportunities that are partially supported by the NSF and other agencies. These are the key mechanisms for staying current on research since publications lag the cutting edge by several years. Changes to collaboration and travel would do serious damage to American research in mathematics. Several of the proposed countries (e.g., China and Russia) are absolute world leaders in mathematics research. And many of these mathematicians are in third countries. Restrictions on travel and collaboration with these countries and their citizens would stunt my research program in important ways, while not providing any meaningful benefit. My research is foundational and publicly available; any restrictions would harm only American research and not impact the targeted countries in any meaningful way. International collaboration has long been a cornerstone of mathematics. This was true during WWII, during the Cold War, and during my entire career. The United States has greatly benefited from this arrangement by making use of these collaborations in the development of computer science, computer modeling of complex systems, GPS, and countless other technologies. The same could be said for emerging science in quantum computing, AI, materials science, and more. Putting thoughtless restrictions on it now would only hurt American interests.