Science and Security in a Post 9/11 World: A Report Based on Regional Discussions Between the Science and Security Communities (2007)
Chapter: Appendix A Letter to Honorable John H. Marburger
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE
SUITE 2320 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515–6301
(202) 225–6371
TTY: (202) 226–4410
http://www.house.gov/science/welcome.htm
September 30, 2002
The Honorable John H. Marburger, III
Director,
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
Washington, DC 20502
Dear Dr. Marburger:
At a joint House-Senate hearing on Science and Technology to Combat Terrorism, we heard from several witnesses representing the National Academy of Sciences who testified to the possible adverse impact of our response to terrorism on America’s science and technology enterprise. The witnesses spoke of the need to regulate some aspects of the university research environment, while maintaining, insofar as possible, the openness and freedom in inquiry that have contributed to our nations’s scientific leadership.
As chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, we have been grapping with how to strike a proper balance between the need to secure potentially sensitive research information, products, and facilities amd intellectual and interdisciplinary openness—including the free exchange of students, scholars, and scientific information—that characterize our research enterprise.
We understand that the National Academy of Sciences is planning to convene a series of science and security roundtable discussions around the country to solicit input from the scientific community on how best to balance the competing requirements of national security and unfettered scientific inquiry. Based on a preliminary proposal that we have seen (copy attached), we believe that the outcome of their process would significantly aid us in our deliberations on this issue.
We hope that the Office of Science and Technology Policy could commission this endeavor and identify an agency to fund this project quickly to allow all of us to have the benefit of the science community’s input as we move forward on addressing security and research.
