Nelson, Schatz, 25 Other Democrats Introduce Legislation to Prevent Political Tampering With Science

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), and 25 other Democratic senators introduced the Scientific Integrity Act, a bill that would prevent political appointees from re-writing scientific findings and guarantee that federal science is free and open to the public.  The bill responds to recent gag orders from the Trump Administration against federal scientists in agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Science is the basis of rational public policy and legislation,” Senator Schatz said.  “The truths that researchers uncover may be uncomfortable, but we need to face them head on.  We cannot fight climate change, ocean acidification, and sea level rise by lying about the data or re-writing scientific papers.  We’re going to fight to protect the truth, so we can make progress rather than bury our heads in the sand.”

The legislation introduced today would require free and open access to federal data and research.  It would also require federal agencies to develop scientific integrity policies.  The minimum standards for such policies would include professional standards for conducting research; preventing political tampering with research findings; freedom of speech for scientists; and due process for scientists whose rights have been violated.