On February 14, leading scholars and private foundation presidents shared the stage at a Capitol Hill briefing, "Payoffs of Long-Term Investment in Education Research." Speakers emphasized that education research based on long-term funding has led to important payoffs for education policy and practice in areas such as early intervention, school and classroom organization, and the education and evaluation of teachers. This article describes the briefing, which was convened by the Education Deans Alliance, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Academy of Education, and held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. By coincidence, it occurred on the same day that President Obama was releasing his federal budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, which proposes a $60 million increase for research and evaluation programs at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Many top education leaders were among the more than 80 individuals who attended the joint briefing to hear about important research conducted with combined federal and private support.