Issue Position: Defending Scientific Integrity

Issue Position

Securing funding for science and clear climate policies is one of the reasons I first ran for Congress. Today, I am proud to sit on the Committee for Science, Space and Technology, and the Energy and Commerce Committee. As an engineer, I understand the importance of clean energy and the continued advancement of innovation in technology sectors. The evolution of these projects rely on funding from the federal government, to keep the United States a leader in STEM fields on the global stage.

It has been no secret that the Trump administration does not hold these same values. For the upcoming fiscal year, they have proposed devastating budget cuts that would decrease funding at the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 74.2%.

Additional cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) slash research that would investigate extreme weather phenomena and the effects of climate change. These cuts to science funding are at best, irresponsible, and at worst, causing irreversible damage to our future generations.

We must also fight back against Trump's use of politics as a cudgel against taxpayer-funded scientific findings. Time and again, he and his team have silenced our top scientists when their research doesn't fall in line with his own reckless and hyper-partisan political narrative. That's why I've introduced the Scientific Integrity Act, to ensure public research is not tainted or influenced by political power from either party. This issue was most clearly brought to light with "Sharpiegate," which the New York Times cited when admitting the head of NOAA failed the agency's code of ethics.

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