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[Page H1474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LIARS CANNOT BE TOLERATED
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Foster) for 5 minutes.
Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I am a scientist, and if a scientist stands
up and says something that they know is not true, it is a career-ending
action. The reason for this is that science always operates at the edge
of what is known, so we cannot tolerate liars.
The world is now facing scientific uncertainty in the spread and the
severity of the coronavirus. And when the leadership of China
confronted the reality of the pandemic, they chose to suppress
scientific truth and lie to their people. That cost China and the world
the opportunity to slow down and perhaps contain this outbreak.
In the U.S., we were recently exposed to the spectacle of our
country's leader making self-serving pronouncements about the
coronavirus outbreak that had no basis in scientific fact and that were
immediately contradicted by his scientific experts.
As our Nation faces the serious threat of coronavirus, the American
people deserve to know that they can trust the information coming from
their government, and that the public officials that they elected are
putting science ahead of politics or deranged conspiracy theories.
Unfortunately, after 3 years of consistently undermining scientific
research and scientific fact, this administration is dangerously
deficient in credibility, and that is directly putting the health and
well-being of millions of Americans at risk with an opaque and chaotic
response to this outbreak.
Just a few weeks ago, the Trump administration presented a budget
that would slash almost $700 million from the Centers for Disease
Control, cutting a vital resource that is at the front lines of this
public health emergency.
This administration has left critical positions vacant at Homeland
Security and the National Security Council, including positions
responsible for managing pandemics.
Americans need their elected leaders to spend less time tweeting and
more time making sure that government resources are coordinated and
fully funded and ready to combat this outbreak.
Soon, the House will move forward to provide emergency funding that
matches the scale and the threat of the coronavirus. We must make sure
that the President and the administration uses these funds for what
they are intended, a comprehensive and aggressive response to managing
the coronavirus outbreak and making sure that any future vaccines or
treatments are affordable and available to all who need them.
We also must hold the President and his administration accountable
for the information they share with the American people. Three years of
keeping science and facts at arm's length have rightly made people
suspicious of what comes out of the White House. And now, as Americans
worry for the health of themselves and their loved ones, they
unfortunately must also worry about whether the information coming from
the people that they expect to manage this crisis will be distorted for
the President's political purposes.
When a leader lies to the public about important scientific facts, it
is not acceptable. It is not cute. It is not just Trump being Trump. It
is a dangerous act that puts our public health and our democracy at
risk.
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