In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by “federal, state and local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others” to “maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education.”
【结构分析】
【主干成分】 这是一个主谓宾结构：Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS。
【修饰成分】1）leading congressional为前置定语修饰名词Democrats and Republicans; 2)asking that从句...为非谓语动词引导的伴随状语，修饰前面的“主谓宾”结构所表达的这件事情; 3)that could be taken by “federal,...为定语从句，修饰actions；4) to “maintain national excellence...为to do不定式作目的状语，修饰take actions之后所达到的目的。
【参考译文】
2010年，国会重要民主党人和共和党人向美国人文与科学院致信，要求其界定出能够被“联邦、州、地方政府、大学、基金会、教育工作者、个人捐助者等”采取的行动，以“维护国家在人文与社会科学研究及教育领域的地位”。