Comment from Salvatore Rappoccio

[200.205, 200.340] To Whom it May Concern: I am a professor of Physics with a research focus on particle 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. The proposed changes to Section 200.205 is detrimental to science and the US as a whole to have non-experts overriding peer review. This will destroy the US's economic advantage that it historically has enjoyed. It also opens the door to retaliatory cycles where priorities of one side who happens to be in power now could be unjustly removed by a later administration. Our research group is around 20 people working on particle physics that is funded by the National Science Foundation working internationally at CERN. We use cutting-edge technologies such as silicon detectors and high-speed computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and assist in training of people who mostly end up employed at high-impact industries of national priority. The changes to 200.340 would disrupt workforce development for these high-impact industries, as well as groundwork development for the technologies that will impact tomorrow's technological advances. Overall, the changes proposed will destroy the US economic advantage we have enjoyed for decades and disrupt the workforce development that is so critically necessary.