The Geospatial Data Act (GDA) of 2017 (S.1253) intends to kill our jobs

Nevada's own senator, Dean Heller, is sponsoring legislation that will make it illegal for anyone but a licensed engineer to procure federal government contracts having to do with anything geospatial.  The language of this act is very broadly worded.  In fact, it is so broadly worded that it actually would apply to "all information tied to a location on Earth".  This is clearly a money grab on the part of the surveying and engineering community, and an attempt to squash GIS and remote sensing as we know it.  Please take a look at the statement released by the Association of American Geographers - http://news.aag.org/2017/06/the-new-plot-to-hijack-gis-and-mapping/ and please take a look at the full text of the bill at - https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1253/text?format=txt .  Finally, if you live in Nevada contact Dean Heller at https://www.deanheller.com/contact/ .  GIS and geospatial data goes way beyond engineeringor surveying.  It affects virtually every corner of science and social science.  Please make your voice heard.  Orrin Hatch of Utah, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Mark Warner of West Virginia are also co-sponsors of this money-grab legislation.  Please let you congressional delegation know that you oppose this legislation.