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1. Look for your legislators in the co-sponsors list below.
2. If your legislator is a co-sponsor send them a thank you message.
3. If your legislator is not a co-sponsor, click "Back" in your web browser to take action.
Current Co-sponsors of the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policy Making Act:
Arizona
Raul M. Grijalva (7th)
Arkansas
Vic Snyder (2nd)
California
Lynn Woolsey (6th)
George Miller (7th)
Barbara Lee (9th)
Tom Lantos (12th)
Fortney Stark (13th)
Anna Eshoo (14th)
Michael Honda (15th)
Zoe Lofgren (16th)
Sam Farr (17th)
Brad Sherman (27th)
Howard L. Berman (28th)
Adam Schiff (29th)
Henry Waxman (30th)
Hilda Solis (32nd)
Diane Watson (33rd)
Linda Sanchez (39th)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (34th)
Bob Filner (51st)
Susan Davis (53rd)
Colorado
Diana DeGette (1st)
Mark Udall (2nd)
Connecticut
John Larson (1st)
Rosa DeLauro (3rd)
Florida
Alcee L. Hastings (23rd)
Hawaii
Ed Case (2nd)
Illinois
Danny K. Davis (7th)
Melissa Bean (8th)
Janice D. Schakowsky (9th)
Jerry Costello (12th)
Lane Evans (17th)
Indiana
Julia Carson (7th)
Louisiana
William Jefferson (2nd)
Maine
Thomas H. Allen (1st)
Michael Michaud (2nd)
Maryland
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (2nd)
Elijah E. Cummings (7th)
Massachusetts
James P. McGovern (3rd)
Barney Frank (4th)
Martin Meehan (5th)
John Olver (1st)
John F. Tierney (6th)
Edward Markey (7th)
Missouri
William Lacy Clay
New Jersey
Robert Andrews (1st)
Donald M. Payne (10th)
New Mexico
Tom Udall (3rd)
New York
Major Owens (11th)
Carolyn B. Maloney (14th)
Charles Rangel (15th)
Eliot Engel (17th)
Michael McNulty (21st)
Maurice D. Hinchey (22nd)
Louise McIntosh Slaughter (28th)
North Carolina
Bob Etheridge (2nd)
Brad Miller (13th)
David Price (4th)
Ohio
Dennis Kucinich (10th)
Sherrod Brown (13th)
Oregon
David Wu (1st)
Earl Blumenauer (3rd)
Peter A. DeFazio (4th)
Darlene Hooley (5th)
Pennsylvania
Robert A. Brady (1st)
Tennessee
Jim Cooper (5th)
Bart Gordon (6th)
Texas
Eddie Bernice Johnson (30th)
Vermont
Bernard Sanders
Virginia
James P. Moran (8th)
Washington
Jay Inslee (1st)
Brian Baird (3rd)
Jim McDermott (7th)
Washington, D.C.
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin (2nd)
Ron Kind (3rd) |
Protect Government Science: Support H.R. 839, the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policy Making Act The United States has an impressive history of investing in the capabilities of scientists and respecting their independence; this has led to sustained economic progress and unparalleled scientific leadership within the global community.
Unfortunately, the integrity of federal science is being threatened by an unprecedented amount of political interference. The current level of abuse of science threatens to undermine this nation's scientific legacy.
Scientific findings at federal agencies that contradict predetermined policy decisions have been distorted, manipulated, and suppressed. Furthermore, the independence of science advisory panels has been undermined by panel nominees being subjected to political litmus tests that have little or no bearing on their expertise; underqualified individuals or individuals with industry ties being nominated to advisory panels; and politically sensitive science advisory committees being disbanded altogether.
Reports surface regularly in the scientific and mainstream press about attempts to manipulate, suppress, or distort federal government science for political purposes. Among the most recent examples:
- According to the Washington Post, while developing new regulations governing toxic mercury pollution from power plants, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials purposefully omitted the results of a Harvard study paid for by taxpayer dollars, which showed that the costs of mercury pollution and the benefits of a regulation stronger than the Administration's proposal were higher than previously thought. Furthermore, a Government Accountability Office report found that the EPA had distorted its analysis of the health impacts of mercury on brain development in children and fetuses. And the EPA's own inspector general reported that agency scientists had been pressured to change their scientific findings in order to justify the Administration's industry-friendly rules.
- According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently conceded that it used flawed science when deciding whether or not proposed development plans would threaten the habitat of the highly endangered Florida Panther. Andy Eller, a USFWS biologist who filed a whistleblower complaint about the issue, was fired in November and has not been offered his job back.
- A survey of USFWS scientists showing that political intervention to alter scientific findings has become pervasive within the agency. At field offices around the country, USFWS scientists tell of being asked to change scientific information, remove scientific facts or come to conclusions that are not supported by the science. As a result, the scientists say, endangered and threatened wildlife are not being protected as intended by the Endangered Species Act.
In 2004, UCS released the report
Scientific Integrity in Policymaking and a subsequent update documenting numerous incidents where science has been subject to political abuse. The scientific community responded with tremendous concern; to date, more than 6,500 scientists, including 48 Nobel Laureates and 152 members of the National Academies, have
signed a statement calling for an end to the political misuse of science and expressing support for reforms to restore scientific integrity in federal policy making. And in November, the National Academy of Sciences released a report calling for an end to the use of political litmus tests for scientific advisory committees.
Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee, and Bart Gordon (D-TN), ranking member on the House Science Committee, have introduced the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policy Making Act (H.R. 839) to address this problem and maintain America's status as the world leader in science in support of our health, safety, and prosperity. The bill will:
- Help prevent the manipulation of data by prohibiting federal employees from tampering with or censoring federally funded scientific research or analysis or directing the dissemination of false or misleading information;
- Protect government scientists and strengthen whistleblower protections by prohibiting supervisors from threatening or taking action against an employee who is developing or disseminating appropriate scientific research or analysis;
- Strengthen the independence of federal science advisory committees by banning political litmus tests, requiring that all appointments to science advisory committees be made without regard to political affiliation;
- Improve transparency of the science advisory process by requiring agencies to disclose in advance: the makeup of the committee, the process for identifying members and selecting members for balance of viewpoints or expertise, any conflicts of interest that members have, and a summary of the way the committee reached conclusions;
- Promote review of government science by requiring that each agency determine a peer review process appropriate for the agency's functions and needs, and by eliminating the Office of Management and Budget peer review that may lead to unnecessary cost increases and delays in promulgating new health, safety, and environmental regulations;
- Establish an annual report to Congress by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which must address controversies regarding scientific integrity raised during the year, including any federal policy changes related to or administration efforts to promote scientific integrity.
We need your help to convince your member of Congress to co-sponsor this legislation in order to prevent the political abuse of science and protect our nation's health, safety, and environment.
This effort is part of the UCS Scientific Integrity campaign. To learn more, visit http://www.ucsusa.org/rsi
