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[Page S7234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED TODAY
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of the following resolutions introduced
earlier today en bloc: S. Res. 459, S. Res. 460, and S. Res. 461.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolutions en bloc.
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, in recognition of its centennial
anniversary, I rise to offer my congratulations and appreciation to the
American Geophysical Union, also known as the AGU. Since December 1919,
the AGU has played an instrumental role in supporting international
cooperation while also fostering American leadership in the fields of
Earth and space science. Senator Murkowski and I introduced a
resolution in honor of this critical milestone, and I am pleased to see
the Senate pass it today.
The National Research Council created the AGU as the representative
for the United States of America in the International Union of Geodesy
and Geophysics in 1919. Only 1 year after the end of World War I, this
was an occasion for international cooperation that illustrated the
importance of bridging divides in the name of science. The AGU is a
prime example of our Nation's commitment to a vision of shared peace
and prosperity, and by serving as a key forum for gifted geophysicists
from across the world, it is an example of our positive role in the
international community for advancing knowledge.
In the century since its founding, the AGU has connected countless
geophysicists to facilitate information-sharing, peer review. and
innovation. The AGU today counts more than 60,000 scientists and
students among its membership, across 137 countries. Their work has not
only expanded our understanding of our home planet and the celestial
bodies beyond, but it has also led to critical health, environmental,
commercial, and technological breakthroughs. If we are to confront
climate change and other systemic challenges and, indeed, if we are
truly to live as stewards in harmony with our surroundings, humanity
needs the international cooperation and scientific integrity the AGU
demonstrates so aptly.
It is my hope that this resolution and the occasion of the AGU's
centennial anniversary can inspire us all to appreciate the
significance of scientific integrity and independence. Research from
the geophysical community has deeply informed our society on the need
for responding to pressing challenges, chief among them climate change.
But unfortunately, it is not always so easy. Under President Trump,
scientists have had to censor their work, voluntarily or involuntarily,
due to political interference.
Under the Trump administration, for instance, the United States
Geological Survey has opted to limit the scope of the projected
consequences of climate change through 2040, despite the agency's
historic use of models stretching through 2100. Perhaps more worrisome,
the White House released an Executive Order on June 14, 2019, that
instructs each agency to slash at least one-third of its advisory
committees, which consist of experts and scientists ready to advise on
a wide range of issues, especially for the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Through reason and empiricism, science brings us closer to the truth.
When administration officials or other individuals purposefully
interfere with science to paint an incomplete, inaccurate, or
misleading image, science ceases to be science and becomes just another
battleground for politics. Policymakers should not be in the business
of manipulating or silencing the work of the men and women who make up
the scientific community. We should let scientists do their jobs. The
AGU has done an excellent job representing many of those scientists
over the last 100 years, and I congratulate it on the occasion of its
centennial.
Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed
to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 459) was agreed to.
(The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted
Resolutions.'')
The resolutions (S. Res. 460 and S. Res. 461) were agreed to.
The preambles were agreed to.
(The resolutions, with their preambles, are printed in today's Record
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
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