{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/epa-responds-to-new-england-members-of-congress-on-silencing-of-scientists", "EPA Responds to New England Members of Congress on Silencing of Scientists", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.06.17\n\t\t\t EPA Responds to New England Members of Congress on Silencing of Scientists \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senators, Representatives put Pruitt on notice\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledging fault, a group of federal lawmakers offered a forceful warning today never to repeat a troubling incident earlier this fall.\u00a0 In October, the EPA withdrew its scientists from an important workshop on the health of Narragansett Bay and the threats posed by climate change and other environmental factors.\u00a0 After a group of New England members of Congress demanded an explanation, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt responded with a letter assuring the members of Congress that \u201c[p]rocedures have been put in place to prevent such an occurrence in the future.\u201d\u00a0 Pruitt also said the EPA would continue to fulfill its obligations under the National Estuary Program (NEP), which helps to protect estuaries like the Narragansett Bay.\r\nSenators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Richard Neal (D-MA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), David Cicilline (D-RI), Joe Kennedy (D-MA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Bill Keating (D-MA) issued the following joint statement on Administrator Pruitt\u2019s letter:\r\n\u201cAmericans rely on the EPA for accurate science to keep their communities healthy and safe, and to plan for serious environmental threats to their economies and way of life.\u00a0 After the EPA\u2019s reckless and shortsighted decision to muzzle its own scientists from presenting to the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, we appreciate Administrator Pruitt\u2019s commitment never to let this happen again.\u00a0 We will hold him to that commitment.\u00a0 This administration has stocked the EPA with industry lobbyists and climate deniers.\u00a0 They include people like John Konkus, who brags about scrubbing all of the agency\u2019s grants for the words \u2018climate change.\u2019\u00a0 These rigidly ideological political appointees have no place in deciding whether the American people can access the science done on their behalf.\u201d\r\nThe State of the Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed workshop took place in Providence, RI, on October 23, and centered on the release of a 500-page report detailing the health of the Bay, problems it faces, and the progress made to address these issues. \u00a0The EPA, which helped fund the research through its administration of the NEP, was scheduled to send three EPA-affiliated scientists to present material they had contributed to the report and share their expertise on the challenges facing the Bay.\u00a0 Just days before the workshop and without explanation, the EPA barred the scientists from presenting.\u00a0\r\nThe EPA\u2019s actions were a \u201cblatant example of the scientific censorship we all suspected was going to start being enforced at EPA\u201d under Administrator Pruitt\u2019s leadership, chair of the science advisory committee of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program John King told the New York Times.\u00a0 According to the Times\u2019s reporting, at least one of the EPA scientists had planned to address climate change and related factors in her presentation.\u00a0 \u201cThey don\u2019t believe in climate change, so I think what they\u2019re trying to do is stifle discussions of the impacts of climate change,\u201d King added.\r\n\u201cYou would not have taken kindly to Washington bureaucrats telling scientists in Oklahoma they couldn\u2019t speak with Oklahoma organizations to come up with \u2018neighborhood solutions\u2019 to better protect public health and a critical economic asset,\u201d the members wrote in response to the incident.\u00a0 \u201cNeither do we.\u201d\r\nA copy of Administrator Pruitt\u2019s letter to the members is available here.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/epa-responds-to-new-england-members-of-congress-on-silencing-of-scientists"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6211520414799452, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}