(Washington, DC) October 26, 2007 – In response to House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller’s (D-NC) recent press release, Investigations and Oversight Ranking Member, Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) issued the following statement:
"Congress’ approval rating has plummeted for a reason. The American people are tired of political grandstanding. During my ten years as a Committee Chairman, I always made sure I had the facts before announcing the results of my investigations. But the current Majority is more interested in political gains than it is in the truth.
"Yesterday, Chairmen Gordon and Miller sent a letter to Dr. John Marburger, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding alleged edits of testimony by Dr. Julie Gerberding in a recent Senate hearing relating to climate change. In the letter, the Chairmen requested to see all drafts of Dr. Gerberding’s testimony.
"Immediately following their document request, and before Dr. Marburger had an opportunity to comply, Chairmen Gordon and Miller issued a press release to criticize the “Censoring of Federal Climate Science.” Chairman Miller went further, stating:
"When Congress calls a witness to testify, we expect the witness to testify based on the truth as the witness knows it, not what a higher up tells the witness is true. My advice to any Administration witness is if you’re convicted of contempt of Congress, obstruction of justice or perjury, Dr. Marburger will not serve your sentence for you.
"Dr. Gerberding, meanwhile, did not think that she was censored. “I was absolutely happy with my testimony in Congress. We finally had a chance to go and say what we thought was important,” the Associated Press quoted her as saying. “I don’t let people put words in my mouth, and I stand for science,” she added.
"Several times this year, the Majority has practiced what I’ve called “overzealous oversight.” The Majority condemned career civil servants before it even conducted its investigation. That, to me, is overzealous oversight."
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110-100 |