House and Senate Block the Use of Political Litmus Tests for Federal Science Advisory Committees
UCS and our supporters achieved a major legislative victory in the final days of 2005, when legislation to block the use of political litmus tests for federal science advisory committees passed both the House and Senate.
With active encouragement and support from UCS, both the House and Senate passed amendments to domestic spending legislation that would prevent officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and related departments from choosing candidates for federal science advisory committees based on political affiliation. The Senate amendment went even further, prohibiting the deliberate dissemination of false or misleading information.
UCS campaigned for passage of these amendments every step of the way. After numerous phone calls from UCS activists, a House-Senate conference committee charged with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the legislation included the Senate version of the amendment in the final bill.
The final legislation was initially voted down by the House. However, the House-Senate conference committee reworked the bill and kept the Senate amendment in the bill. President Bush signed the legislation into law on December 30, 2005.
The inclusion of this language in the final version of the bill marks significant progress toward substantive legislative solutions. Thank you to all the activists and scientists who helped demonstrate to Congress that the public believes that scientists should be selected based on their expertise and not irrelevant political views.
