Bruce L. Braley: “this amendment, which strikes section 13 of the underlying bill, is very simple; all it does is expand the term ``abuse…”

“this amendment, which strikes section 13 of the underlying bill, is very simple; all it does is expand the term ``abuse of authority'' under existing law to include any action that compromises the validity or accuracy of federally funded research or analysis. And it is the federally funded component of that clause that makes this amendment bad for the American people. American taxpayers should not have the risk of important scientific research being impacted by political influence from any political party. That is why it is important that this amendment be defeated. There are those that say that politics and science will always intersect. That is absolutely true. Science doesn't give us all the answers. We have to make political and policy decisions about the right path to follow. For example, an administration might decide not to support a certain type of research. We may not agree with that decision, but the administration has a right to make it as long as it is honest about the information and rationale behind it. What is not acceptable is when the government actually manipulates science to advance its decisions. Hiding data, releasing misinformation, gagging scientists, all to justify a political course of action, is wrong. That is the type of action that we want Federal employees to feel safe in reporting. And that is why this bill makes crystal clear that disclosures related to manipulation and distortion of science are protected disclosures.”