Once Again, White House Chooses Politics Over Science, Says Kerry Campaign

5/7/2004

From: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-712-3000, both of John Kerry for President

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Today, the Bush White House is announcing that it will not allow a contraceptive to be sold over-the-counter, overruling a lopsided decision by an independent expert FDA review board made up by a number of people appointed by the Administration. This decision is just the latest example of the Bush White House misusing science for political gain, putting its own interests ahead of sound public health policies:

-- Misleading the Public about the Health Risks of Mercury: "Throughout an E.P.A. draft of the proposed regulations circulated in November, a White House staff member crossed out the word "confirmed" from the phrase describing mercury as a "confirmed public health risk." ... In another case, a toxicologist with the Office of Management and Budget recommended changes to a sentence saying children exposed to mercury in the womb "are at increased risk of poor performance on neurobehavioral tests." The final sentence that was published said children "may be at increased risk.'" (New York Times, 4/7/04)

-- Scientists and Nobel Laureates Say Bush Administration Has Censored Reports: In late February, more than 60 influential scientists, including more than 20 Nobel laureates, signed a statement saying the administration had disbanded scientific advisory committees, placed unqualified people on other panels and censored reports by others when their scientific conclusions conflicted with administration policies. (New York Times, 3/30/04)

-- Unsafe Food: "In February, a senior scientist at the Department of Agriculture reported that the Department had been pressured by top officials in the Bush Administration to approve products for Americans to eat before their safety can be confirmed. In particular, the scientist said, approval to resume importing Canadian beef was given last August before a study confirming that it was safe. Canadian beef was banned after mad cow disease was found there in May." (New York Times, 2/25/04)

-- Cancer Risk: A National Cancer Institute fact sheet suggested an alleged link between abortion and breast cancer, even though the scientific evidence is not there. The earlier version said women who have abortions have "the same risk as other women for developing breast cancer." The Bush Administration's updated fact sheet says the studies are inconsistent, although the American Cancer Society has declared there is no conclusive evidence linking abortion and breast cancer. Its experts contend that the studies suggesting such a link are flawed. (Los Angeles Times, 12/19/02)

-- Lead Poisoning in Children: "The Bush administration has suppressed evidence about safe levels of mercury emissions and lead. Mercury and lead contamination are linked to neurological and development impairment in children." (editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/21/04)

-- Global Warming: "In late May (2002), the White House approved a climate report that was then submitted by the State Department to the United Nations, though it contained far more dire projections of harm from global warming than Mr. Bush had publicly accepted. The president quickly distanced himself from the report, saying it was "put out by the bureaucracy." New copies of the report have been changed to emphasize scientific uncertainty about the effects of global warming."(New York Times, 9/15/02)

-- Removed Safe Sex Information From Government Web Sites: Web sites for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control removed fact sheets on the "effectiveness of condoms" and a sex education program curriculum called "Programs that Work" which focused on HIV and highlighted several proven programs that involve condom use. (Washington Post, 10/22/02)

-- Replaced Scientists When They Disagreed With Stem-Cell Politics: "The Bush administration recently replaced two preeminent scientists on the Council on Bio-Ethics who disagreed with the administration's political opposition to embryonic stem- cell research. (editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/21/04)

-- Bush Approved Nevada Nuclear Waste Dump Over Scientific Concerns: Bush approved Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Facility 100 miles from Las Vegas Nevada in 2002, despite concerns aired by scientists and the Government Accounting Office. Myriad scientists, including some of those connected to the project, have expressed concerns about the project, and the GAO was urging Bush to postpone the plan indefinitely only months before Bush made a final decision. (CQ, 12/14/01; Washington Post, 11/30/01; USA Today, 12/9/03)

-- Bush and EPA Knew NYC Post 9/11 Air Dangerous; Still Said it Was Safe: According to the EPA Inspector General, after September 11 the White House did not want an EPA official to make the health risks of the polluted air public. On September 13, 2001, then-EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced that the air in New York was safe to breathe, despite warnings from scientists that the air was, "the most polluted the world has ever experienced," Whitman stated, "EPA is greatly relieved to learn that there appears to be no significant levels of asbestos in the air in New York City." (Greenwire, 8/11/03)

"When politics trumps science, no one wins: The Bush administration, already burdened by a growing credibility gap, squanders even greater public trust; scientists waste precious time fighting political battles; and we, the nations' citizens, lose expert advice on how to protect our health and that of the environment" (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/21/04)