White House chided for editing testimony

WASHINGTON – Two chairmen of key committees in the House and Senate on Wednesday criticized the White House for editing testimony from a government expert about the health impacts of global warming and demanded documents involving the testimony he provided to Congress.

“I am deeply concerned that important scientific and health information was removed from the … testimony at the last minute,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote President Bush.


Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, demanded an explanation from the White House’s chief science adviser, John Marburger, about the handing of the testimony earlier this week by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She appeared Tuesday before Boxer’s committee, which is crafting global warming legislation.

“We expect our government researchers and scientists to provide both Congress and the public the full results of their taxpayer-supported work without the filter that those of opposing views might like to impose,” Gordon wrote Marburger.

The White House denied that the testimony by Gerberding was “watered down” and noted that she has said she does not believe she was censored.

AP