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May 14, 2021

Committee Members Statement on Scientific Integrity Task Force

(Washington, DC) – Today, the federal scientific integrity task force convened for the first time. The 46-person task force, comprised of members from more than two dozen government agencies, was mandated by the Biden Administration in a January memorandum, Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policy Making. Its mission is to review then effectiveness of agency scientific integrity policies developed since the Presidential Memorandum of March 9, 2009 and to propose guidelines for protecting scientific integrity in federal science in the future.

Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA), Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI), Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY), Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL), Congresswoman Deborah K. Ross (D-NC), Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA) made the following statement.

“As we have said many times before, Federal scientists and agencies must be able to do their work free of political interference. We are encouraged by the Biden Administration’s quick action to restore scientific integrity in our federal research enterprise and we look forward to the results of today’s initial meeting of this critical taskforce. Science does not have a political agenda. When science is done well, it is because trained professionals can follow the data and subject their findings to rigorous peer review. The scientific breakthroughs of the past year, including the COVID-19 vaccines, have shown the remarkable accomplishments our scientists can achieve when they are supported, work together, and make science-based decisions. We encourage the task force to work in a non-partisan manner to devise principles and strategies that will support scientific integrity in the long term. We must continue to do better to support our federal scientists.”

 

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