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Recommendations on Federal Appointments
- To: know_nukes@yahoogroups.com, radsafe <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
- Subject: Recommendations on Federal Appointments
- From: John Jacobus <crispy_bird@yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:03:23 -0800 (PST)
- Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:14:38 -0600
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- Reply-To: John Jacobus <crispy_bird@yahoo.com>
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We frequently discuss issues about regulators at the
NRC, EPA, etc., and about the need to have fair and
unbias leadership. The following deals with
appointments to science and technology positions, like
NASA. However, I think some of the ideas are
interesting. Also, I think the Richard Meserve
mentioned below used to be with the Chairman of the
NRC.
-----------------
FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science
Policy News Number 11: January 26, 2004
Academy Report Makes Recommendations on Federal S&T
Appointments
The task of appointing new S&T agency officials at the
onset of the second Bush Administration is not nearly
as complicated as it was four years ago. While some
top level positions need to be filled, such as those
of the NASA Administrator and NIST Director, many of
the key S&T officials remain in place.
Before the November election, a report was released by
the National Academies addressing the process of
making presidential appointments to top science and
technology positions and federal S&T advisory
committees. Entitled "Science and Technology in the
National Interest: Ensuring the Best Presidential and
Federal Advisory Committee Science and Technology
Appointments," the 205-page report is available at
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11152.html. John Porter,
a former Member of Congress, chaired the eleven member
committee that produced this report.
Two previous Academy reports have been issued on the
S&T appointment process, although they only examined
agency positions (see
http://www.aip.org/fyi/2000/fyi00.127.htm). The
latest report also reviews appointments to federal S&T
advisory committees. Since President Bush was
reelected and did not have to build an entirely new
administration, this FYI will center on the
committee's recommendations regarding advisory
committee appointments.
In releasing the report, Porter, Frank Press and
Richard Meserve discussed what the committee reviewed
and did not review. Porter referred to charges made
by critics that the Bush Administration has
politicized the process of appointing S&T officials
and advisory committee members
(http://www.aip.org/fyi/2004/106.html). Speaking
generally, Porter said it was "vital" that the members
of S&T advisory committee positions be seen as
impartial and independent, and that it was
"inappropriate to ask" prospective committee members
about their party affiliation, election votes, or
policy positions. Scientists should not be excluded
from advisory committees because of their personal
views, he said. Meserve commented that there are
approximately 1,000 federal advisory committees, of
which one-half involve an S&T component. Many
researchers are unaware of how the advisory committee
system works, Meserve stated, and feel shut-out of the
process. Porter and Meserve stressed that the
committee made no investigation or assessment of the
current Administration's practices, Porter saying that
it was "not within our realm [to determine] if there
have been misjudgements or violations."
Porter made an important distinction between various
types of advisory committees. If a president is
seeking policy advise, it is acceptable for a
prospective committee member's policy or political
views to be considered. If science and technology
expertise is sought - and not policy options - Porter
reiterated that it was "simply not appropriate" to ask
political questions in the recruiting process, and
under some circumstances it could be illegal. The
report went into more detail; the following are three
of the report's seven recommendations on advisory
committees:
"When a federal advisory committee requires
scientific or technical proficiency, persons nominated
to provide that expertise should be selected on the
basis of their scientific and technical knowledge and
credentials and their professional and personal
integrity. It is inappropriate to ask them to provide
nonrelevant information, such as voting record,
political-party affiliation, or position on particular
policies."
"Presidential administrations should make the
process for nominating and appointing people to
advisory committees more explicit and visible and
should examine current federal advisory committee
appointment categories to see whether they are
sufficient to meet the nation's needs."
"To build confidence in the advisory committee
system and increase the willingness of scientists and
engineers to serve, department and agency heads should
establish an appointment process supported by explicit
policies and procedures and hold staff accountable for
its implementation."
The committee found "little progress had been made on
the recommendations of the 2000 report," but was more
hopeful about the utility of the latest endeavor.
"This report will sell itself"
because of the times we are in, Press predicted.
Meserve added that "we are trying to sensitize" the
Administration, with Porter saying that the OSTP
Director John Marburger had been briefed on the
report, and was very interested in reviewing and
implementing its recommendations.
###############
Richard M. Jones
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org http://www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094
##END##########
=====
+++++++++++++++++++
"It doesn't matter whether you're riding an elephant or a donkey if you're going in the wrong direction."
Jesse Jackson
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com
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