Press Release

Report offers advice to McCain, Obama on science and technology appointments

By SpaceRef Editor
September 17, 2008
Filed under ,
Report offers advice to McCain, Obama on science and technology appointments
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Full report

WASHINGTON — The importance of research in solving many of our national challenges, including economic ones, was emphasized today in a new report titled Science and Technology for America’s Progress: Ensuring the Best Presidential Appointments in the New Administration. The report, sent to John McCain and Barack Obama with guidance for whomever is elected president in November, provides suggestions on filling key science appointments after the election. Issued by the independent and nonpartisan National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, the report lists approximately 80 high-level science and technology appointees who will be crucial in advising the new president on issues that range from energy to health care to economic growth. It also urges members of the scientific community to serve in these positions, and suggests ways to make it more attractive for well-qualified people to do so.

“The new administration and the nation will need exceptionally able scientists, engineers, and health professionals to serve in the federal government,” said John Edward Porter, chair of the committee that wrote the report, a former congressman from Illinois, and a partner at Hogan and Hartson, Washington, D.C. “We hope that scientists and engineers will welcome this opportunity to bring fresh ideas and new energy to our nation’s agenda, and we hope that Congress and the incoming president will reduce the obstacles to attracting the best and brightest people to these jobs.”

Immediately after the election, the president-elect’s highest S&T priority should be to select a confidential adviser on science and technology, who will help identify and recruit the best candidates for key appointments, participate in budget decisions for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, and provide guidance in the event of a crisis, the report says. This adviser should be appointed the assistant to the president for science and technology promptly after the inauguration, and nominated as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The director should be included in cabinet discussions about the scientific and technological aspects of broader policy decisions.

The report recommends that the president and Senate accelerate the appointment process for S&T leadership to reduce the personal and financial burdens on nominees and to allow important positions to be filled swiftly. Congress and the Office of Government Ethics should simplify procedures aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest in appointees, which have become unduly complex over the years. And scientific and professional societies should more actively reach out to the president’s science adviser and other senior administration leaders to provide input that broadens the pool of candidates for appointments.

In addition, the report urges the incoming president to ensure that his administration makes the process for appointing people to federal advisory committees explicit and transparent, and stresses that those chosen to provide S&T expertise should be selected solely for their knowledge, credentials, and professional and personal integrity.

The report is the latest in a series of reports issued by the Academies on the presidential appointment process, each delivered during a presidential election year.

The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. A committee roster follows.

Copies of the summary of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S PROGRESS: ENSURING THE BEST PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at HTTP://WWW.NAP.EDU. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

# # # NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST:
ENSURING THE BEST PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS

JOHN E. PORTER 1 (CHAIR)
Partner
Hogan and Hartson, LLP
Washington, D.C.

RICHARD F. CELESTE
President
Colorado College
Colorado Springs

MARY E. CLUTTER
Former Assistant Director
National Science Foundation
Washington, D.C.

NEAL F. LANE
Malcolm Gillis Kelly University Professor, and Senior Fellow
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
Rice University
Houston

RICHARD A. MESERVE 2
President
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Washington, D.C.

ANNE C. PETERSEN 1
Deputy Director
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and Professor of Psychology
Stanford University
Stanford, Calif.

MAXINE L. SAVITZ 2
General Manager for Technology Partnerships
Honeywell Inc. (RETIRED)
Los Angeles

DEBORAH L. WINCE-SMITH
President
Council on Competitiveness
Washington, D.C.

STAFF

RICHARD E. BISSELL
Study Director

1 Member, Institute of Medicine
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering

SpaceRef staff editor.