Secret Science Reform Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BABIN. I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, it is time to end the era of secret science within the
Environmental Protection Agency. This bill before us, H.R. 1030, does
just that.

As the Representative of a very diverse district in Texas with
timber; agricultural interests; four ports, including the Port of
Houston; and more petrochemical plants than any other in the United
States, I rise in strong support of this bill.

I cosponsored this bill because I believe that the American people
deserve a greater level of accountability from the EPA and less
bureaucratic regulation and dodging the facts. Let the facts speak for
themselves.

Transparency is one of the fundamental tenets of science. I have a
biology degree. I have had plenty of science, chemistry, and physics--I
am a dentist--medicine. If they have the facts, there is no need to hide
them.

The EPA spends about $8 billion a year in taxpayer money, and I
believe that the taxpayers of the United States have a right to know
just how their hard-earned money is being spent.

As new sets of data are created, I hope that this level of
transparency will encourage researchers, companies, and nonprofits
towards a greater level of openness.

The President committed that his administration would be the most
transparent administration in history. Unfortunately, I believe this
administration has fallen short of this goal. This bill is necessary to
ensure that the American people have transparency in the Environmental
Protection Agency.

When the EPA overreaches, it costs Americans their jobs by putting
U.S. workers at a competitive disadvantage. We need transparency and
accountability so that American workers and their families are
protected.

Let's put an end to ``secret science.'' H.R. 1030 does exactly this,
and I call on my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill.

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