U.S. Rep. Waxman to Discuss Controversial
Report on "Politics and Science"

U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) discussed his controversial report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration," on Thursday, 2 October, during a seminar sponsored by the Washington Science Policy Alliance (WSPA).

The event, which drew a number of federal agency staff and others interested in the making of science policy, took place in the auditorium of AAAS, the science society. AAAS is one of the eight institutions that comprise the WSPA, a loosely knit organization that provides the public with opportunities for considering specific science and technology policy issues.

"Mr. Waxman's remarks clearly struck a chord with our audience," says Albert Teich, head of AAAS's Directorate for Science and Policy Programs. "We can argue over whether this is politics as usual, or something new. But in any case, it's an issue that deserves attention."

When it was released in early August, "Politics and Science" attracted broad media coverage for its attempts to show that, "political interference has led to misleading statements by the President, inaccurate responses to Congress, altered web sites, suppressed agency reports, erroneous international communications, and the gagging of scientists."

In addition to AAAS, the other members of Washington Science Policy Alliance include the Center for International Science and Technology Policy, George Washington University; the Center for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Columbia University and Georgia Tech; the Science & Technology Policy Program, George Mason University; the Program in Science, Technology & International Affairs, Georgetown University; RAND Science & Technology Policy Institute; the Science & Technology Policy Program, SRI International; and the Science & Technology Studies Program, Virginia Tech, Northern Virginia Center.

—Coimbra Sirica

26 September 2003