Stop Trump's Chaos--Stand Up for Science

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Ms. Stevens and Mr. Subramanyam, for hosting this Special Order hour. Their leadership is much needed, and I appreciate them.

Madam Speaker, I rise today because something is deeply wrong. The Trump administration is gutting our Nation's scientific infrastructure and doing it with purpose. This isn't some misunderstanding or clerical error. It is an attack on research, on truth, and on the people who have dedicated their lives to making our country stronger, smarter, and healthier.

Thousands of scientists have been laid off. Grants approved by Congress are being withheld. Whole labs are shutting down. Now, the administration wants to slash funding for the NIH, the CDC, the Department of Energy's labs, and the university partnerships that have built the modern American economy.

They call this reform. It is not reform. It is a dagger to the heart of American innovation.

Let's be honest about what's going on here. Elon Musk and the so- called Department of Government Efficiency are using the Federal Government to settle scores: cancer trials, nonessential; national science databases, too expensive. That is not policy. It is a crusade against expertise.

Last month, I sat down with five undergraduate researchers at UC Riverside. They are doing remarkable work on everything from climate change to biomedical engineering. Their students are bright; their ideas are bold; and their funding is suddenly at risk, not because the science failed but because politics did.

While we fire researchers, other countries are sending job offers. France, Germany, Canada, and Australia are rolling out the red carpet for the scientists we are pushing out the door.

While we make it harder for international students, researchers, and the greatest minds around the world to come, to bring their talent, other countries are offering funding, housing, and guaranteed lab space.

One institute called it a ``once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity,'' a once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity for other countries. This is what it looks like when a country values science. Meanwhile, we are bleeding talent.

As ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, I need to speak plainly: Our veterans are being hurt, too.

In Pennsylvania, doctors at VA hospitals warned that lifesaving cancer trials were being shut down. I was told by the Secretary--I rushed from that hearing--that they really weren't being shut down, but there are a lot of questions around the status of these trials.

More than 1,000 veterans are at risk of losing access to treatments for head and neck cancer, kidney disease, and traumatic brain injuries. Some of these trials have not been restarted.

In Pittsburgh, a study for veterans struggling with opioid addiction stalled out when a hiring freeze hit.

In Los Angeles, all chemotherapy treatments almost stopped entirely before the VA reversed course.

These are not just numbers. These are people. These are veterans who stepped up for this country, who are now wondering why the country will not step up for them.

We passed the PACT Act to expand care to those exposed to burn pits and other toxins. It was the largest expansion of veterans' care in generations, making good on a promise to help those who served our Nation. Now, it is being broken.

While all of this is happening, China is investing billions in biotech, AI, and clean energy. They are not just competing with us; they are outpacing us because they are not undermining their own scientists.

While we fire, they fund. While we second-guess researchers, they fast-track them.

We are not losing this race because we Americans are not capable. We are losing because we are allowing our government to sabotage them.

Today, some of the National Science Foundation scientists who were fired may be watching from the gallery, others--grad students, post- docs, public health experts--are tuning in from their labs and classrooms across the country.

To all of them, I say this: We see you. We value you. We are not giving up on you. This is not about science; it is about who we are as a country.

Do we invest in the people solving cancer, or do we dismiss them as expendable?

Do we stand by our veterans mid-treatment, or do we tell them to wait until the budget looks better?

Do we fight to stay at the forefront of discovery and innovation, or do we hand the future to someone else?

Madam Speaker, I represent a region full of young people who believe they can cure disease, fight climate change, and explore the stars. What message are we sending them right now?

We should be investing in their future, not pulling the rug out from underneath them.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject these cuts, reject this anti-science, anti-veteran agenda. Let us fight for the truth for our researchers, for our vets, and for the country we still have a chance to become.

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