I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4893 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish certain scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific 

research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Mr. TONKO (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 

BEYER, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish certain 

scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that 

fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research, and for 

other purposes. 

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. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) science and the scientific process should 

2 help inform and guide public policy decisions on a 

3 wide range of issues, including improvement of pub4 lic health, protection of the environment, and protec5 tion of national security; 

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

7 and scientific process informing public policy deci8 sions; 

9 (3) science, the scientific process, and the com10 munication of science should be free from politics, 

11 ideology, and financial conflicts of interest; 

12 (4) policies and procedures that ensure the in13 tegrity of the conduct and communication of publicly 

14 funded science are critical to ensuring public trust; 

15 (5) a Federal agency that funds, conducts, or 

16 oversees research should not suppress, alter, inter17 fere with, or otherwise impede the timely commu18 nication and open exchange of data and findings to 

19 other agencies, policymakers, and the public of re20 search conducted by a scientist or engineer employed 

21 or contracted by a Federal agency that funds, con22 ducts, or oversees scientific research; 

23 (6) Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or 

24 oversee research should work to prevent the suppres25 sion or distortion of the data and findings; 


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1 (7) under the First Amendment to the Con2 stitution, citizens of the United States have the right 

3 to ‘‘petition the government for a redress of griev4 ances’’; and 

5 (8) Congress has further protected those rights 

6 under section 7211 of title 5, United States Code, 

7 which states, ‘‘the right of employees, individually or 

8 collectively, to petition Congress or a member of 

9 Congress . . . may not be interfered with or denied’’. 

10 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AMERICA COMPETES ACT. 

11 Section 1009 of the America COMPETES Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 6620) is amended by striking subsections (a) and 

13 (b) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(a) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

16 after the date of enactment of the Scientific Integ17 rity Act, the head of each covered agency shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) adopt and enforce a scientific integ19 rity policy in accordance with subsections (b) 

20 and (c); and 

21 ‘‘(B) submit such policy to the Director of 

22 the Office of Science and Technology Policy for 

23 approval. 

24 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

25 after the Director of the Office of Science and TechVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Aug 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4893.IH H4893

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1 nology Policy approves the scientific integrity policy 

2 under paragraph (1), the head of each covered agen3 cy shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) make such policy available to the 

5 public on the website of the agency; and 

6 ‘‘(B) submit such policy to the relevant 

7 Committees of Congress. 

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A scientific integrity policy 

9 under subsection (a)— 

10 ‘‘(1) shall prohibit any covered individual 

11 from— 

12 ‘‘(A) engaging in dishonesty, fraud, deceit, 

13 misrepresentation, coercive manipulation, or 

14 other scientific or research misconduct; 

15 ‘‘(B) suppressing, altering, interfering 

16 with, delaying without scientific merit, or other17 wise impeding the release and communication 

18 of, scientific or technical findings; 

19 ‘‘(C) intimidating or coercing an individual 

20 to alter or censor, attempting to intimidate or 

21 coerce an individual to alter or censor, or retali22 ating against an individual for failure to alter 

23 or censor, scientific or technical findings; or 

24 ‘‘(D) implementing an institutional barrier 

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1 ered agency and the timely communication of 

2 scientific or technical findings; 

3 ‘‘(2) shall allow a covered individual to— 

4 ‘‘(A) disseminate scientific or technical 

5 findings, subject to existing law, by— 

6 ‘‘(i) participating in scientific con7 ferences; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) seeking publication in online and 

9 print publications through peer-reviewed, 

10 professional, or scholarly journals; 

11 ‘‘(B) sit on scientific advisory or governing 

12 boards; 

13 ‘‘(C) join or hold leadership positions on 

14 scientific councils, societies, unions, and other 

15 professional organizations; 

16 ‘‘(D) contribute to the academic peer-re17 view process as reviewers or editors; and 

18 ‘‘(E) participate and engage with the sci19 entific community; 

20 ‘‘(3) may require a covered individual to, before 

21 disseminating scientific or technical findings as de22 scribed in paragraph (2)(A), submit such findings to 

23 the agency for the purpose of review by the agency 

24 of the data and findings for technical accuracy if the 


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1 scientific integrity policy outlines a clear and con2 sistent process for such review; and 

3 ‘‘(4) shall require that— 

4 ‘‘(A) scientific conclusions are not made 

5 based on political considerations; 

6 ‘‘(B) the selection and retention of can7 didates for science and technology positions in 

8 the covered agency are based primarily on the 

9 candidate’s expertise, scientific credentials, ex10 perience, and integrity; 

11 ‘‘(C) personnel actions regarding covered 

12 individuals, except for political appointees, are 

13 not taken on the basis of political consideration 

14 or ideology; 

15 ‘‘(D) covered individuals adhere to the 

16 highest ethical and professional standards in 

17 conducting their research and disseminating 

18 their findings; 

19 ‘‘(E) the appropriate rules, procedures, 

20 and safeguards are in place to ensure the integ21 rity of the scientific process within the covered 

22 agency; 

23 ‘‘(F) scientific or technological information 

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1 established scientific processes, including peer 

2 review where appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(G) procedures, including procedures with 

4 respect to applicable whistleblower protections, 

5 are in place as are necessary to ensure the in6 tegrity of scientific and technological informa7 tion and processes on which the covered agency 

8 relies in its decisionmaking or otherwise uses; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(H) enforcement of such policy is con11 sistent with the processes for an administrative 

12 hearing and an administrative appeal. 

13 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection 

14 (a), the head of each covered agency shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) design the scientific integrity policy to 

16 apply with respect to the covered agency; 

17 ‘‘(2) ensure that such policy is clear with re18 spect to what activities are permitted and what ac19 tivities are not permitted; 

20 ‘‘(3) ensure that there is a process for individ21 uals not employed or contracted by the agency, in22 cluding grantees, collaborators, partners, and volun23 teers, to report violations of the scientific integrity 

24 policy; 


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1 ‘‘(4) enforce such policy uniformly throughout 

2 the covered agency; and 

3 ‘‘(5) make such policy available to the public, 

4 employees, private contractors, and grantees of the 

5 covered agency. 

6 ‘‘(d) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY OFFICER.—Not later 

7 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

8 covered agency shall appoint a Scientific Integrity Officer, 

9 who shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) be a career employee at the covered agency 

11 in a professional position; 

12 ‘‘(2) have technical knowledge and expertise in 

13 conducting and overseeing scientific research; 

14 ‘‘(3) direct the activities and duties described in 

15 subsections (e), (f), and (g); and 

16 ‘‘(4) work closely with the inspector general of 

17 the covered agency, as appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS AND TRAINING.— 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

20 this Act, the head of each covered agency shall establish— 

21 ‘‘(1) an administrative process and administra22 tive appeal process for dispute resolution consistent 

23 with the scientific integrity policy of the covered 

24 agency adopted under subsection (a); and 

25 ‘‘(2) a training program to provide— 


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1 ‘‘(A) regular scientific integrity and ethics 

2 training to employees and contractors of the 

3 covered agency; 

4 ‘‘(B) new covered employees with training 

5 within one month of commencing employment; 

6 ‘‘(C) information to ensure that covered in7 dividuals are fully aware of their rights and re8 sponsibilities regarding the conduct of scientific 

9 research, publication of scientific research, and 

10 communication with the media and the public 

11 regarding scientific research; and 

12 ‘‘(D) information to ensure that covered 

13 individuals are fully aware of their rights and 

14 responsibilities for administrative hearings and 

15 appeals established in the covered agency’s sci16 entific integrity policy. 

17 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year, each Sci19 entific Integrity Officer appointed by a covered agen20 cy under subsection (d) shall post an annual report 

21 on the public website of the covered agency that in22 cludes, for the year covered by the report— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of complaints of mis24 conduct with respect to the scientific integrity 

25 policy adopted under subsection (a)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) filed for administrative redress; 

2 ‘‘(ii) petitioned for administrative ap3 peal; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) still pending from years prior to 

5 the year covered by the report, if any; 

6 ‘‘(B) an anonymized summary of each such 

7 complaint and the results of each such com8 plaint; and 

9 ‘‘(C) any changes made to the scientific in10 tegrity policy. 

11 ‘‘(2) INCIDENT REPORT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

13 days after the date on which an incident de14 scribed in subparagraph (B) occurs, the head of 

15 a covered agency shall submit a report describ16 ing the incident to the Office of Science and 

17 Technology Policy and the relevant Committees 

18 of Congress. 

19 ‘‘(B) INCIDENT.—An incident described 

20 under this paragraph is an incident in which an 

21 individual, acting outside the channels estab22 lished under subsection (e), overrules the deci23 sion of the Scientific Integrity Officer with re24 spect to a dispute regarding a violation of the 

25 scientific integrity policy. 


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1 ‘‘(g) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POL2 ICY.—The Director of the Office of Science and Tech3 nology Policy shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) collate, organize, and publicly share all in5 formation it receives under subsection (g) in one 

6 place on its own website; and 

7 ‘‘(2) on an annual basis, convene the Scientific 

8 Integrity Officer of each covered agency appointed 

9 under subsection (d) to discuss best practices for im10 plementing the requirements of this section. 

11 ‘‘(h) PERIODIC REVIEW AND APPROVAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) INTERNAL REVIEW.—The head of each 

13 covered agency shall periodically conduct a review of 

14 the scientific integrity policy and change such policy 

15 as appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(2) REVIEW BY THE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND

17 TECHNOLOGY POLICY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REVIEW OF SUBSTANTIAL UP19 DATES.—The head of each covered agency shall 

20 submit to the Office of Science and Technology 

21 Policy for approval any substantial changes to 

22 the scientific integrity policy. 

23 ‘‘(B) QUINQUENNIAL REVIEW.—Not later 

24 than 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

25 the Scientific Integrity Act, and quinquennially 


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1 thereafter, the head of each covered agency 

2 shall submit the scientific integrity policy to the 

3 Office of Science and Technology Policy for re4 view and approval. 

5 ‘‘(i) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later 

6 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Sci7 entific Integrity Act, the Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall conduct a review of the implementa9 tion of the scientific integrity policy by each covered agen10 cy. 

11 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

14 United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(2) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 

16 agency’ means an agency that funds, conducts, or 

17 oversees scientific research. 

18 ‘‘(3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov19 ered individual’ means a Federal employee or con20 tractor who— 

21 ‘‘(A) is engaged in, supervises, or manages 

22 scientific activities; 

23 ‘‘(B) analyzes or publicly communicates in24 formation resulting from scientific activities; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) uses scientific information or analyses 

2 in making bureau, office, or agency policy, man3 agement, or regulatory decisions. 

4 ‘‘(4) RELEVANT COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

5 The term ‘relevant Committees of Congress’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Science, Space, 

10 and Technology of the House of Representa11 tives.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. EXISTING POLICIES; CLARIFICATION. 

13 (a) EXISTING SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES.— 

14 Notwithstanding the amendments made by this Act, a cov15 ered agency’s scientific integrity policy that was in effect 

16 on the day before the date of enactment of this Act may 

17 satisfy the requirements under the amendments made by 

18 this Act if the head of the covered agency— 

19 (1) makes a written determination that the pol20 icy satisfies such requirements; and 

21 (2) submits the written determination and the 

22 policy to the Director of the Office of Science and 

23 Technology Policy for review and approval. 

24 (b) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this Act shall affect 

25 the application of United States copyright law. 


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1 (c) COVERED AGENCY DEFINED.—The term ‘‘cov2 ered agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 1009 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 6620). 

Æ 


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