In his EvalTalk post of 8 Aug 2003 13:14:28-0700 titled "Report on
Misuse of Science," Iraj Imam (2003) wrote (slightly edited):
"A disturbing article [Weiss (2003)] appears in the Washington Post
on the report [CGRMS 2003] prepared for Representative Henry Waxman
(D-Calif) by a subcommittee of the "Committee on Government Reform -
Minority Office" <http://www.house.gov/reform/min/> of which Waxman
is the ranking member. For a link to [CGRMS 2003] go to
<http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/>.
According to the latter page:
"The American people depend upon federal agencies to develop
science-based policies that protect the nation's health and welfare.
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. At the request of Rep.
Henry A. Waxman, the minority staff of the Government Reform
Committee assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the
Bush Administration. . . . . The Bush Administration has manipulated,
distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and
other key issues. Find your issue below and read more [each item is
hot-linked to the relevant section of [CGRMS 2003],
Abstinence-Only Education
Agricultural Pollution
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Breast Cancer
Condoms
Drinking Water
Education Policy
Environmental Health
Food Safety
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
According to Weiss (2002) "The White House quickly dismissed the
report as partisan sniping."
In a similar reaction, Ze'ev Wurman (2003) wrote:
". . . . all the other stuff in the report {CGRMS (2003)} [other than
the criticism of the Bush administration's handling of
Abstinence-Only Education] looks like a typical pile of garbage."
I join Dawna Phillips (2003) in her question to Ze'ev:
". . . Why do you think the rest of the report 'looks like a typical
pile of garbage'? "
REFERENCES
CGRMS. 2003. Committee on Government Reform - Minority Staff (Special
Investigations Division), U.S. House of Representatives, "Politics
and Science in the Bush Administration," Prepared for Rep. Henry
Waxman; online as a 587K pdf at
<http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/>.
Unscientifically, the report does not disclose the names of the
authors of the report, but at least the names of the minority members
of Waxman's "Committe on Government Reform" are listed at
<http://www.house.gov/reform/min/members.htm>.
Imam, I. 2003. "Report on misuse of science" EvalTalk post of 8 Aug
2003 13:14:28-0700; online at
<http://bama.ua.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0308b&L=evaltalk&T=0&O=D&X=3A7353076A310C5C9E&Y=rrhake@earthlink.net&P=2251>.
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Weiss, R. 2003. "Bush Misuses Science, Report Says; Democrats Say
Data Are Distorted to Boost Conservative Policies," Washington Post
of 7 August 2003; online at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31318-2003Aug7.html>:
"The Bush administration has repeatedly mischaracterized scientific
facts to bolster its political agenda in areas ranging from
abstinence education and condom use to missile defense, according to
a detailed report released yesterday by Rep. Henry A. Waxman
(D-Calif). The White House quickly dismissed the report as partisan
sniping."