I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1358 

To protect scientific integrity in Federal research and policymaking, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2017 

Mr. TONKO (for himself, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. KILMER, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. SOTO, Ms. LEE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LEWIS of 

Georgia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. BEYER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. MENG, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. 

KEATING, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. RASKIN, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. NEAL, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. 

PERLMUTTER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. POLIS, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. BROWNLEY

of California, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CRIST, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESTY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. BERA, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. 

MEEKS, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To protect scientific integrity in Federal research and 

policymaking, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scientific Integrity 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the mean8 ing given the term ‘‘agency’’ in section 551(1) of title 5, 

9 United States Code. 

10 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY. 

11 It is the sense of Congress that— 

12 (1) science and the scientific process should in13 form and guide public policy decisions on a wide 

14 range of issues, including improvement of public 

15 health, protection of the environment, and protection 

16 of national security; 

17 (2) the public must be able to trust the science 

18 and scientific process informing public policy deci19 sions; 

20 (3) science, the scientific process, and the com21 munication of science should be free from politics, 

22 ideology, and financial conflicts of interest; and 

23 (4) policies and procedures that ensure the in24 tegrity of the conduct and communication of publicly 

25 funded science are critical to ensuring public trust. 


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1 SEC. 4. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS. 

2 Except as provided in section 552(b) of title 5, 

3 United States Code, and consistent with privacy and clas4 sification standards, the head of each Federal agency that 

5 funds or conducts scientific research shall— 

6 (1) promote and maximize the communication 

7 and open exchange of data and findings to other 

8 agencies, policymakers, and the public of research 

9 conducted by a scientist or engineer employed or 

10 contracted by a Federal agency that funds or con11 ducts scientific research; and 

12 (2) prevent the suppression or distortion of the 

13 data and findings described in paragraph (1). 

14 SEC. 5. PRINCIPLES. 

15 Section 1009(a) of the America COMPETES Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 6620(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(a) PRINCIPLES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

19 after the date of enactment of the Scientific Integ20 rity Act, the Director of the Office of Science and 

21 Technology Policy, in consultation with the head of 

22 each Federal agency that funds or conducts sci23 entific research, shall develop and issue an over24 arching set of principles— 

25 ‘‘(A) to ensure the communication and 

26 open exchange of data and findings to other 


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1 agencies, policymakers, and the public of re2 search conducted by a scientist or engineer em3 ployed or contracted by a Federal agency that 

4 funds or conducts scientific research, while pro5 tecting privacy, confidentiality, and national se6 curity; and 

7 ‘‘(B) to prevent the suppression or distor8 tion of the data or findings described in sub9 paragraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCHANGE OF DATA AND FINDINGS.—In 

11 order to promote the sharing of data and findings, 

12 as appropriate, the principles shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) encourage the open exchange of data 

14 and findings of research undertaken by a sci15 entist or engineer employed or contracted by a 

16 Federal agency that funds or conducts scientific 

17 research, while protecting privacy, confiden18 tiality, and national security; and 

19 ‘‘(B) be consistent with existing Federal 

20 laws, including chapter 18 of title 35, United 

21 States Code (commonly known as the ‘Bayh22 Dole Act’).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1009 of the America 

3 COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 6620) is amended by strik4 ing subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(b) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES.—Not later 

6 than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Scientific 

7 Integrity Act, the head of each Federal agency that funds 

8 or conducts scientific research shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) develop and enforce a scientific integrity 

10 policy, including procedures, regarding the release of 

11 data and findings to other agencies, policymakers, 

12 and the public of research conducted by a scientist 

13 or engineer employed or contracted by that Federal 

14 agency; and 

15 ‘‘(2) submit the scientific integrity policy to the 

16 Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

17 Policy and Congress. 

18 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—A scientific integrity policy 

19 under subsection (b) shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) be consistent with the principles estab21 lished under subsection (a); 

22 ‘‘(2) specifically address what is and what is 

23 not permitted or recommended under that policy, in24 cluding procedures; 

25 ‘‘(3) be specifically designed for the Federal 

26 agency; 


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1 ‘‘(4) be applied uniformly throughout the Fed2 eral agency; and 

3 ‘‘(5) be publicly accessible and widely commu4 nicated to all employees and private contractors of 

5 the Federal agency. 

6 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, each scientific in7 tegrity policy under subsection (b) shall ensure that— 

8 ‘‘(1) scientific conclusions are not made based 

9 on political considerations; 

10 ‘‘(2) the selection and retention of candidates 

11 for science and technology positions in the Federal 

12 agency are based primarily on the candidate’s exper13 tise, scientific credentials, experience, and integrity; 

14 ‘‘(3) personnel actions regarding scientists and 

15 engineers are not made based on political consider16 ation or ideology; 

17 ‘‘(4) scientists and engineers adhere to the 

18 highest ethical and professional standards in con19 ducting their research and disseminating their find20 ings; 

21 ‘‘(5) the appropriate rules, procedures, and 

22 safeguards are in place to ensure the integrity of the 

23 scientific process within the Federal agency, includ24 ing procedures— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that allow for a scientist to review 

2 public release of materials that cite work from 

3 that scientist or otherwise claim to represent 

4 the scientist’s scientific opinion; and 

5 ‘‘(B) to identify, evaluate the merits of, 

6 and address instances in which the scientific 

7 process or the integrity of scientific and techno8 logical information may be compromised; 

9 ‘‘(6) scientific or technological information con10 sidered in policy decisions is subject to well-estab11 lished scientific processes, including peer review 

12 where appropriate; 

13 ‘‘(7) except as provided in section 552(b) of 

14 title 5, United States Code, and consistent with pri15 vacy and classification standards, each Federal 

16 agency makes publicly available scientific or techno17 logical findings that are considered or relied upon in 

18 policy decisions and regulatory proposals; 

19 ‘‘(8) scientific and technical staff are able to 

20 ensure the scientific and technical content of sci21 entific documents, reports, press releases, and fact 

22 sheets accurately represents the relevant scientific 

23 data and conclusions; and 

24 ‘‘(9) procedures, including any applicable whis25 tleblower protections, are in place as are necessary 


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1 to ensure the integrity of scientific and technological 

2 information and processes on which the Federal 

3 agency relies in its decisionmaking or otherwise uses. 

4 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—A scientific integrity policy shall 

5 apply to each employee or contractor who conducts, han6 dles, communicates, supervises, or manages federally 

7 funded scientific research for the Federal agency or for 

8 a federally funded research and development center spon9 sored by the Federal agency. 

10 ‘‘(f) DISSEMINATION OF SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY

11 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The head of each Federal 

12 agency that funds or conducts scientific research shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) make the scientific integrity policy avail14 able to the public on the Federal agency’s website; 

15 ‘‘(2) disseminate the scientific integrity policy 

16 to each new employee and contractor; and 

17 ‘‘(3) develop and require training on the sci18 entific integrity policy for each employee or con19 tractor who conducts, handles, communicates, or su20 pervises scientific research for the Federal agency. 

21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY.—In this 

22 section, the term ‘Federal agency’ has the meaning given 

23 the term ‘agency’ in section 551(1) of title 5, United 

24 States Code.’’. 


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1 (b) EXISTING SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES.— 

2 Notwithstanding section 1009(b) of the America COM3 PETES Act (42 U.S.C. 6620(b)), as amended by this Act, 

4 a scientific integrity policy that was in effect on the day 

5 before the date of enactment of this Act may satisfy the 

6 requirements of section 1009 of that Act if the head of 

7 a Federal agency that funds or conducts scientific re8 search— 

9 (1) makes a written determination that the pol10 icy satisfies the requirements of that section; and 

11 (2) submits the written determination and the 

12 policy to the Director of the Office of Science and 

13 Technology Policy and Congress. 

14 (c) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this Act shall affect 

15 the application of United States copyright law. 

16 SEC. 7. NAPA REVIEW. 

17 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech19 nology Policy shall enter into an agreement with the Na20 tional Academy of Public Administration— 

21 (1) to study the appropriateness of the sci22 entific integrity policies under section 1009 of the 

23 America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 6620), as 

24 added by section 6 of this Act— 


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1 (A) in promoting the communication and 

2 open exchange of data and findings to other 

3 agencies, policymakers, and the public of re4 search conducted by scientists employed or con5 tracted by a Federal agency; and 

6 (B) in preventing the suppression or dis7 tortion of the data and findings described in 

8 subparagraph (A); and 

9 (2) to recommend any improvements to the sci10 entific integrity policies to achieve the purposes de11 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

12 (1). 

Æ 


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