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Washington Update
*An August congressional report commissioned by Rep. Henry Waxman,
D-Calif., concluded that the Bush White House has repeatedly “manipulated
the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.” The
administration’s actions “go far beyond the typical shifts
in policy that occur with a change in the political party occupying the
White House,” according to the minority staff of the House Committee
on Government Reform. To read the full report, go to here. *On Sept. 10, the Senate passed the FY 2004 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill, allocating an expected $27.9 billion to NIH, a 3.7 percent budget increase over last year. An amendment to add an extra $1.5 billion to the NIH budget, offered by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Tom Harkin, D.-Iowa, was defeated shortly before the final vote. Next up: House and Senate differences in the bill will be settled in conference committee. Follow the action, go to here. *The administration’s plans to make more federal jobs open to the private sector (see HABIT, June 24, 2003) suffered a setback after the House voted to block the Office of Management and Budget from speeding up the “competitive sourcing” process. The vote crossed party lines, picking up several Republicans who were worried about the effects of the proposed new hiring plan. *The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act, a bill which would allow health care providers to report medical errors anonymously and voluntarily to patient safety organizations. The House approved a similar bill in March. *On Aug. 11, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman appointed 13 individuals to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which will review and possibly rebuild the food pyramid. Some of the appointees have already come under fire from advocacy groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest for their ties to the food industry. For a complete list of committee members, go to here. You can send comments on the revisions to here. *The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy wants to hear your thoughts on how to reduce the red tape around government agencies’ research funding process, according to an article in The Scientist (click here). In particular, OSTP wants feedback on how grant paperwork differs between agencies and how new ties between industry and universities may be affecting the process. *Personnel changes: Kenneth Olden. Ph.D., stepped down as the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and National Toxicology Program. Story Landis, Ph.D., was named the new director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Jeremy Berg, Ph.D., is the new director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Ellie Ehrenfeld, Ph.D., will resign from her position as the director of the Center for Scientific Review at the end of September. |
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