Congressman Brad Miller, Science and Subpoena Power

Many of you were here during our live-blogging session with Congressman Brad Miller. Some of you might remember this comment he made after a question from gregflynn.

We're still collecting accounts of intimidation.
Submitted by repbradmiller on Thu, 12/28/2006 - 10:02am.
The Science Committee will have a new subcommittee next year, an Investigations and Oversight subcommittee. Yes, it will have subpoena power.

I will no likely chair that subcommittee next year, unfortunately, but I expect to remain active on the issue. You can still send e-mails confidentially to heather.parsons[at]mail.house.gov with any examples of research being quelched or manipulated because of political considerations.

I was sad to see that Rep. Miller wouldn't chair that committe, because I felt he would be an excellent fit for the job. The good great news is that Congressman Brad Miller is indeed the chair of the Investigations and Oversight subcommittee and yes, the committee does have subpoena power. They have just finished their first organizing meeting and it is official.

I had a chance to speak with Representative Miller this morning to ask a few questions. I encourage anyone who wants to gain a basic understanding of just how knowledgeable he is and how engaged he is with the challenges facing our nation's scientists, to read his diary posts at DailyKos.

Miller said that he has heard from a lot of scientists about this administration's attempts to tailor the science or to force the scientists to tailor their findings to fit a predetermined outcome. There has been intimidation and funding has been cut. At the science blogging conference this past weekend almost every speaker referred to "the current political climate" in some manner. It's obvious many (most?) are feeling some type of pressure - even if indirect - to not do their jobs the way they should be done. Miller says the committee will be looking at whether we are letting scientists be scientists.

While the idea that Brad Miller having the power to subpoena all our favorite science-hating neocons might make some of us giddy with delight, Miller says subpoenas will be used as a last resort. Initially, the committee will request information and see what they are able to obtain willingly before resorting to issuing subpoenas. He also mentioned some might be issued when they are required to obtain the information. He referred to these as "friendly" subpoenas.

I also asked Congressman Miller if there were any specific incidents that he felt needed to be investigated. He mentioned the attempted silencing of James Hansen at NASA. This should be good.

Congratulations, Congressman Miller.