1. Look for your senators in the co-sponsors list below.  2. If one of your senators is a co-sponsor, send them a thank you message 3. click "Back" in your web browser to send a message to your senator(s) who are not yet co-sponsors. Current Co-sponsors of the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policy Making Act: California Barbara Boxer  Dianne Feinstein Colorado Ken Salazar Hawaii Daniel Inouye Illinois Dick Durbin Iowa Tom Harkin Maryland Barbara Mikulski Nevada Harry Reid New Jersey Frank Lautenberg New Mexico Jeff Bingaman New York Hillary Rodham Clinton South Dakota Tim Johnson Wisconsin Russell Feingold

Protect Government Science: Support S. 1358, 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:

• In late August, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again refused to issue a decision on whether or not to allow over-the-counter distribution of the emergency contraception drug known as Plan B. This prompted a senior FDA official to resign in protest. Two science advisory committees have determined that the drug is safe and effective. Numerous FDA officials and medical advisers to FDA involved in and familiar with the approval process call the move an almost unprecedented repudiation of government scientific expertise. By law, the FDA is required to approve drugs that are found to be safe and effective.
• This summer, the New York Times revealed that White House chief of staff on the Council on Environmental Quality, Phil Cooney, personally edited and distorted scientific reports on climate change, and in doing so significantly downplayed the scientific certainty on global warming.
• 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.
• Surveys of scientists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Division show that political intervention to alter scientific findings has become pervasive within each agency. At field offices around the country, USFWS and NOAA 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, the agencies are not able to carry out their conservation missions.

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 7,000 scientists, including 49 Nobel Laureates and 155 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. 

Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) have introduced the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policy Making Act (S. 1358) 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.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee, and Bart Gordon (D-TN), ranking member on the House Science Committee. To encourage your representative to support this legislation, click here.

This effort is part of the UCS Scientific Integrity campaign. To learn more, visit http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/