Comment from David Weiss

[200.205, 200.340] To Whom it May Concern: I am a professor of physics. I am writing in my personal capacity to oppose the proposed revisions to sections 200.205 and 200.340 that would undermine the integrity of federal grant review processes and federal science agencies' ability to identify and fund impactful research. My research spans a range from basic research to research with possible near term applications in quantum information and quantum sensing. Sometimes the former transitions into the latter. In my research, that transition time has been as long as 30 years. If any filter other than scientific interest, as judged via peer review, had been applied at early stages of basic research, the work might never have been funded, to the detriment of the advance of both science and technology. What is worthwhile research, what will expand knowledge and ultimately technology, requires a set of judgments that can only be made effectively on scientific grounds, not on political grounds. If active grants could be terminated for political reasons, it would become difficult to run a long term research program. It would become difficult to commit to the development of graduate students. Both would be to the great detriment of the future of scientific advances in the US. This rule, if implemented, would greatly damage the conduct of basic research in the US. There would be visible near term harm, but the longer term harm to US competitiveness is science would be even more profound.