Waxman: Politics and Science in the Bush Administration

From Scienticity

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Revision as of 23:20, 2 November 2005

The draft of this article is incomplete.

On 6 Augsut 2003, US Representative Henry Waxman released a 39-page report, Politics and Science in the Bush Administration^[1], evaluating the treatment of science and scientists under the Bush Administration. The report was prepared by the staff of the Committee on Government Reform, Minority Office; Rep. Waxman is ranking minority member of the Committee. Release of the report was marked by the debut of a new website^[2] called "Politics & Science", maintained by the Committee's Minority Office, and devoted to presenting information about the topics investigated in the report.

The Waxman report was in the vanguard of those documenting the political manipulation of science by the Bush Administration, to be followed by related reports by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the American Civil Liberties Union and contributing to the impetus for the Science Besieged Project here at Ars Hermeneutica.

Contents 1 Findings 1.1 Overview 1.2 Abstinance-Only Education 1.3 Agricultural Pollution 1.4 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1.5 Breast Cancer 1.6 Condoms 1.7 Drinking Water 1.8 Education Policy 1.9 Environmental Health 1.10 Global Warming 1.11 HIV/AIDS 1.12 Lead Poisoning 1.13 Missile Defense 1.14 Oil and Gas 1.15 Prescription Drug Advertising 1.16 Reproductive Health 1.17 Stem Cells 1.18 Substance Abuse 1.19 Wetlands 1.20 Workplace Safety 1.21 Yellowstone National Park 2 Reaction 3 Notes 4 Other Sources

Findings

Overview

From the Executive Summary:

The American people depend upon federal agencies to promote scientific research and to develop science-based policies that protect the nation’s health and welfare. Historically, these agencies — such as the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency — have had global reputations for scientific excellence.

Recently, however, leading scientific journals have begun to question whether scientific integrity at federal agencies has been sacrificed to further a political and ideological agenda. As the editor of Science wrote earlier this year, there is growing evidence that the Bush Administration “invades areas once immune to this kind of manipulation.”
[...]
The Administration’s political interference with science has led to misleading statements by the President, inaccurate responses to Congress, altered web sites, suppressed agency reports, erroneous international communications, and the gagging of scientists.
[...]
[T]he report identifies the three principal ways in which the Bush Administration has pursued its agenda: by manipulating scientific advisory committees, by distorting and suppressing scientific information, and by interfering with scientific research and analysis.

The report documents three principal ways in which the Bush Administration manipulates the scientific enterprise:

• Manipulating Scientific Advisory Committees by appointing nonexperts with strong ties to involved industries, appointing unqualified people with ideological agendas, stacking committees with policy partisans, and imposing political tests on candidates, all in an effort to direct committee recommendations in disregard of scientific findings;
• Distoring and Suppressing Scientific Information by witholding important scientific information, presenting incomplete or inaccurate information to congress and the American people, or skewing scientific results to support policy, in public announcements, statements, and agency reports; and
• Interfering with Scientific Research through increased and inappropriate scrutiny of ongoing research, obstruction of scientific analyses, judging programs based on political outcome, and blocking scientific publication.

Scientific results do not determine policy, but honest scientific results can help direct policy. As stated in the Introduction to the report:

There should be a clear line between the work of scientists, which is to assemble and analyze the best available evidence, and that of policymakers, which is to decide what the nation’s response to the science should be.

Please note that the following sections summarize findings at the time the report was released (in August 2004), and may not reflect current situations.

Abstinance-Only Education

Agricultural Pollution

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Breast Cancer

Condoms

Drinking Water

Education Policy

Environmental Health

Global Warming

HIV/AIDS

Lead Poisoning

Missile Defense

Oil and Gas

Prescription Drug Advertising

Reproductive Health

Stem Cells

Substance Abuse

Wetlands

Workplace Safety

Yellowstone National Park

Reaction

Notes

1. ^ Special Investigations Division, Minority Staff of the Committee on Government Reform, US House of Representatives, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration", "prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, August 2003.
2. ^ "About Politics & Science: The State of Science Under the Bush Administration", August 2003.

Other Sources

• Rick Weiss, " Bush Misuses Science, Report Says: Democrats Say Data Are Distorted to Boost Conservative Policies", originally Washington Post, 8 August 2003, reproduced by Common Dreams NewsCenter.