Richard Pombo: “I would just like to comment that the reason that we wanted to ban volunteers in the scientific part of this bill was we…”

“I would just like to comment that the reason that we wanted to ban volunteers in the scientific part of this bill was we feel that we need to depend upon better science than what is being used right now, and that if you have volunteers out gathering scientific data, that data can come back reflecting the agenda of the volunteers. If we are going to, as policymakers, make decisions based on science, we need to have it based on good science. If you have a bunch of volunteers running all over the country supposedly collecting scientific data, I believe that the data can come back skewed one way or the other, which does not benefit us. What the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula] is trying to do with this amendment is to cure one part of the bill that was overlooked when they drafted it. I believe it is a correct amendment. I support that amendment. But I will also support the ban on volunteers in gathering scientific data that we are supposed to base our decisions on.”