Tag Archives: Bart Gordon

The Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives released the following statement On January 4, Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-06) assumed the Chairmanship of the House Committee on Science and Technology for the 110th Congress. House Rules Package (H.Res. 6) was passed January 4, 2007 and changes the name of the Committee on Science to the Committee on Science and Technology to more accurately reflect its broad jurisdiction in the areas of science, research and technology.

In an April 28, 2005 investigation on Integrity and Science Rep. Gordon states that Scientific progress occurs when we foster the open exchange of ideas and information.

On January 2, 2007 Ed Vawter of QD Information posted a blog entry Political Interferrence in US Science voicing concerns within the scientific community that government policy is possibly forced scientists into making their research results fit the policy.

One of my ongoing concerns is the fact that the U. S. Government does not have an executive office that deals primarily in science. Many foreign governments have a Ministry of Science specifically devoted to scientific issues.
We have executive departments for agriculture, commerce, defense, education, energy, health, homeland security, housing, justice, labor, state, interior, treasury, transportation, and veteran affairs. Science seems to be divided among the fifteen executive branches of the government. The closest the U. S. has to an Executive Department of Science is the independent agency, the National Science Foundation. Science.gov is also a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies including research and development.

Hopefully the re-establishment and new leadership of the Committee on Science and Technology will keep science and technology honest and unbiased.

Thanks to Sabrina I. Pacifici at beSpacific for the lead about the newly formed Committee on Science and Technology.