Liars Cannot Be Tolerated

Floor Speech

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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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