Science and Transparency Over Politics Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4638 To preserve and promote integrity in scientific decision making at the Department of Health and Human Services. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. REED, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. KAINE, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To preserve and promote integrity in scientific decision making at the Department of Health and Human Services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Science and Trans- 4 parency Over Politics Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4638 IS SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF POLITICAL INTERFERENCE 1 WITH DECISIONS OF SCIENTIFIC AGENCIES 2 OF HHS. 3 (a) APPOINTMENT OF THE TASK FORCE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Pandemic Response Ac- 5 countability Committee established under section 6 15010 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 7 Security Act (Public Law 116–136), shall appoint, 8 not later than 1 month after the date of enactment 9 of this Act, the Task Force of the Pandemic Re- 10 sponse Accountability Committee (referred to in this 11 section as the ‘‘Task Force’’), which shall consist of 12 5 members of the Pandemic Response Accountability 13 Committee. 14 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the 15 Task Force shall have expertise in conducting inde- 16 pendent audits, evaluations, and investigations. 17 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS.—The Task 18 Force shall— 19 (1) conduct an investigation of political inter- 20 ference with decisions made by scientific agencies of 21 the Department of Health and Human Services dur- 22 ing the time period described in subsection (f); and 23 (2) not later than January 31, 2021, and every 24 6 months thereafter, until the date that is 6 months 25 after the end of the time period described in sub- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4638 IS section (f), submit a report of the findings of such 1 investigation to the Committees on Health, Edu- 2 cation, Labor, and Pensions and Homeland Security 3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 4 Committees on Energy and Commerce and Over- 5 sight and Reform of the House of Representatives. 6 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the investiga- 7 tion under subsection (b), the Task Force shall consider— 8 (1) emails and other records of communica- 9 tions, including— 10 (A) communications between the White 11 House, the Department of Health and Human 12 Services, and scientific agencies of the Depart- 13 ment of Health and Human Services; and 14 (B) communications between political ap- 15 pointees, career staff, and contractors within 16 scientific agencies of the Department of Health 17 and Human Services; 18 (2) initial, subsequent, and final drafts of sci- 19 entific publications or communications, in order to 20 assess changes made by scientific agencies of the 21 Department of Health and Human Services as a re- 22 sult of political interference; and 23 (3) other information, as the Task Force deter- 24 mines appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4638 IS (d) OBSTRUCTION OF INVESTIGATION.—The Task 1 Force shall notify, in writing, the Committees on Health, 2 Education, Labor, and Pensions and Homeland Security 3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committees 4 on Energy and Commerce and Oversight and Reform of 5 the House of Representatives; and the Pandemic Response 6 Accountability Committee of any obstruction, prevention, 7 or delay of information or communication requested pur- 8 suant to the investigation under subsection (b), not later 9 than 30 days after the Task Force first requested the in- 10 formation or communication. The notification shall in- 11 clude— 12 (1) a description of the information or commu- 13 nication sought; 14 (2) the date on which such information or com- 15 munication was first requested; 16 (3) the date of any subsequent effort to obtain 17 the information or communication; and 18 (4) a summary of any response from the person 19 from which the information or communication was 20 requested, including any explanation by that person 21 of why the requested information or communication 22 is not being provided. 23 (e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 24 term ‘‘political interference with decisions made by sci- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4638 IS entific agencies of the Health and Human Services’’ in- 1 cludes any significant action by the executive branch of 2 the Federal Government to— 3 (1) pressure the Food and Drug Administration 4 to reach a certain outcome related to a drug, device, 5 or biological product for the diagnosis, cure, mitiga- 6 tion, treatment, or prevention of COVID–19; 7 (2) pressure such agency to make a decision re- 8 lated to a drug, device, or biological product for the 9 diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention 10 of COVID–19 within a certain timeframe; 11 (3) prevent such agency from taking an action 12 related to a drug, device, or biological product for 13 the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or preven- 14 tion of COVID–19, or from taking such action with- 15 in a particular timeframe; 16 (4) make a decision for the Food and Drug Ad- 17 ministration related to a drug, device, or biological 18 product for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treat- 19 ment, or prevention of COVID–19 that the Food 20 and Drug Administration would make itself in the 21 ordinary course; 22 (5) pressure the Centers for Disease Control 23 and Prevention or any other scientific agency of the 24 Department of Health and Human Services to re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4638 IS lease, withhold, or modify public health guidance, 1 data, information, or publications related to 2 COVID–19 in a manner that is inconsistent with the 3 conclusion reached by the relevant senior career sci- 4 entists; 5 (6) provide a grant, cooperative agreement, 6 award, or other Federal support through a scientific 7 agency of the Department of Health and Human 8 Services for an entity or endeavor related to 9 COVID–19 for reasons other than strengthening the 10 Nation’s COVID–19 response, including with respect 11 to reducing morbidity and mortality related to 12 COVID–19; or 13 (7) otherwise influence decisions by scientific 14 agencies of the Department of Health and Human 15 Services in a manner that is inconsistent with 16 strengthening the Nation’s COVID–19 response, in- 17 cluding with respect to reducing morbidity and mor- 18 tality related to COVID–19. 19 (f) TIME PERIOD.—The time period described in this 20 subsection is the period beginning on the effective date 21 of the public health emergency declared by the Secretary 22 of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the 23 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4638 IS 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19, and ending on the 1 last day of such public health emergency. 2 (g) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section shall 3 prevent the Task Force from releasing any information 4 before January 31, 2021, or before a full report is com- 5 plete, if the Task Force determines that the release of 6 such information is in the public interest. 7 (h) FUNDING.—To carry out this section, there are 8 authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for the period 9 of fiscal years 2021 and 2022. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4638.IS S4638 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS