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Congress is taking steps to defend government science. This page summarizes some of those efforts:
10/14/08: President Bush signs bill to strengthen agency watchdogs
President Bush signed into law the "Inspectors General Reform Act of 2008," H.R. 928, which was approved unanimously by Congress. The law will improve accountability and transparency within the federal government by granting agency inspectors general greater independence from officials at the agencies they oversee. The law also requires that all inspectors general maintain independent Web sites to receive anonymous complaints about waste, fraud and abuse at federal agencies, giving federal scientists a safe place to report instances of political interference in their work.
House panel decries "science under siege" at EPA
UCS Senior Scientist Francesca Grifo testified before a House investigative panel at their hearing "Science Under Siege: Scientific Integrity at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)." Dr. Grifo's testimony (pdf) demonstrated the need for strong reforms to protect EPA scientists, make agency decision-making more transparent, and reduce politicization of the regulatory process.
Oversight of endangered species protection program
The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to examine recent agency decisions and policies that weaken protections for critically imperiled species. Dr. Grifo offered testimony (pdf) that documents how the politicization of endangered species science has undermined the implementation and enforcement of the Endangered Species Act.
House and Senate examine science and politics at EPA
Hundreds of sceintists at the EPA have reported political intereference in their work, significant barriers to the free communication of scientific results, and concerns about the agency's effectiveness according to testimony by Francesca Grifo for both Senate (pdf) and House (pdf) hearings. The hearings examined science and politics in recent EPA regulatory decisions. Click here to learn more about the Senate hearing and click here to learn more about the House hearing.
Oversight of EPA Library Closures
UCS Senior Scientist Francesca Grifo testified at a Congressional hearing on the impact of the Environmental Protection Agency's 2006 decision to close or reduce access to parts of its library network. The hearing reviewed a new Government Accountability Office report criticizing the way EPA handled the closures. Dr. Grifo discussed an independent UCS investigation showing that hundreds of EPA scientists believe the library closures impaired their work to protect our nation's health, safety, and environment. Click here to learn more and read Dr. Grifo's tesimony.
New Law Will Improve Consumer Product Safety
On August 14, 2008, the President signed into law legislation that reforms the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the agency charged with overseeing the safety of more than 15,000 consumer products. The law will create more transparency, accountability, and scientific integrity at CPSC in several ways:
- The Commission is directed to report to Congress on its efforts to encourage its staff scientists to publish in peer-reviewed journals;
- The CPSC Inspector General must offer employees a website where they can submit anonymous complaints, and to report annually on those complaints that concern employee complaints about CPSC officials who fail to fulfill the agency's mission or whose actions pose concerns about ethical violations or conflicts of interest;
- Whistleblowers in the private sector are protected from retaliation if they report on product defects or violations of consumer safety laws. This will protect many corporate scientists and engineers, and will help build a strong case for extending this protections to federal scientists
- The CPSC must establish a publicly accessible database for consumer complaints and to include any other information, including CPSC staff research, that the Commission deems appropriate. A more open and transparent Commission will help loosen the bonds of secrecy that now make CPSC staff so unable to raise concerns about product safety.
New Law Will Improve Scientific Integrity at FDA
The President signed into law legislation that will open to scrutiny the way the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews drugs and monitors drug safety. The law also protects scientists' ability to publish and communicate their research findings and limits the use of advisory panel members with financial ties to the products they are reviewing. Independent science is critical to protecting the public from unsafe drugs. UCS investigations have found that FDA scientists charged with evaluating drugs, are often ignored, and their findings are suppressed or distorted. Suppression and distortion of scientific research led the FDA to approve drugs such as Vioxx, Avandia, and Ketek that later proved to be harmful. More transparency in the decision-making process is needed at the FDA—and at all federal agencies—to ensure that the work of federal government scientists is not misused. Click here to read the UCS press release.
Agency Media Policies Become Law
In August the president signed the America COMPETES Act, HR 2272, a bill to foster innovation in math and science. Included in the bill is a provision for all science agencies to create principles and policies that ensure the communication and open exchange of data and results to other agencies, policymakers, and the public. The provision also states that the policies should "prevent the intentional or unintentional suppression or distortion of such research findings."
UCS Testifies on Endangered Species Interference
UCS Senior Scientist Francesca Grifo testified on May 9 in front of the House Committee on Natural Resources about political interference in the science behind the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Hearing witnesses discussed interference in the addition and removal of species from the endangered and threatened lists, the designation of critical habitat, and the development of recovery plans. Click here to learn more about the hearing and to read Dr. Grifo's testimony.
UCS Questions President's Executive Order
The president recently issued an executive order that centralizes decision-making power in the White House and may endanger the independence of federal science. The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing to investigate the possible impacts of this executive order. UCS submitted comments (pdf) to the subcommittee on the issue.
Senate Hearing on Integrity of Climate Research
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing to investigate the scientific integrity of federal climate research. View the archived video and read the testimony here.
Congress Investigates Interference in Climate Science
UCS Senior Scientist Francesca Grifo testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on January 30, 2007. Her testimony (pdf) focused on the results of Atmosphere of Pressure, an investigation by UCS and the Government Accountability Project that details broad interference in government scientists ability to communicate with the public, Congress, and the media. Learn more about the hearing here. Also, click here to read statements from members of Congress on scientific integrity. | 
