Stevens wants ‘scientific integrity’ principles in COVID-19 legislation
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions are relying on health guidance and disease prevention from experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies.
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Rochester Hills) wants Congress to adopt a bill that would streamline key federal research and scientific findings for the public. She’s looking for this to be included in the fourth phase of COVID-19 relief legislation, per a letter she sent to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
In the letter, Stevens asks committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) to work to move forward the Scientific Integrity Act as part of a future COVID-19 relief package. U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) first introduced the bill in March 2019. Stevens led the markup, or suggestions for amendments, of the bill.
Stevens called the Scientific Integrity Act “more important than ever” during this time.
“The public health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of effective policies and procedures governing scientific integrity,” Stevens wrote in the letter.
The bill states a national audience must be able “to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions.” It also calls for scientific communication handed down from federal agencies to be free of politics, ideology and financial conflicts of interest.
The legislation also defines the rights of federal scientists to talk about their work to the media, other members in the scientific community and the public.
Stevens, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology, also spoke to the importance of maintaining public trust in federal agencies at a July 2019 hearing in Washington, D.C., At the hearing — which examined if the President Trump administration stifles scientific research — Stevens brought up two critical issues, the Flint water crisis and PFAS, and spoke about public trust in her state had been eroded because of how they were handled.