Democratic senator announces legislation
to protect Fauci from
'politically-motivated termination'
SEE:
AN ANTHONY FAUCI "PROTECTION ACT" TO BE INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS BY DEMOCRAT
Democrat lawmaker wants to make it harder to fire top scientists
BY JONATHAN NICHOLSON
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
First there was a Paycheck Protection Program. Now a Democratic senator wants a Dr. Fauci Protection Act.Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a potentially heated reelection primary with a Kennedy family scion, has come out in favor of making it harder to fire the directors within the National Institutes of Health. Anthony Fauci, who has taken a starring role in President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings, heads up the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.“Our response to the coronavirus crisis must be based on science, on data, and on the truth. We cannot allow Donald Trump to silence Dr. Fauci or any other government scientists. Now more than ever, we must listen to our public health, medical, and scientific experts,” Markey said Tuesday in a press release issued with the text of the bill he plans to introduce.Conservatives have been agitating against Fauci for weeks. Speculation that the president might actually remove him flared after Fauci said on CNN there would have been fewer deaths if coronavirus mitigation tactics had been put in place earlier.Later that day, the president reposted a tweet that referenced Fauci’s comments and said “Time to #FireFauci.”Fauci tried to minimize the damage Monday, saying he had used a poor choice of words. A White House spokesman also denied the president was going to fire Fauci.On Wednesday, Fauci told a reporter that the only way sports would return this summer would be if the game is played in empty stadiums.Despite his fame, much of it earned in his work fighting HIV in previous decades, Fauci is pretty far down the public health organizational ladder. The NIH is part of the Public Health Service, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.Fauci answers to NIH Director Francis Collins and is just one of 27 directors of various NIH institutes and centers, which focus on areas as diverse as neurological health, nursing research and scientific review. The directors are appointed to five-year terms.Markey says his bill would “close the hole” in the law that he said leaves Fauci vulnerable. It would make directors removable only for “malfeasance by, neglect of office by, or incapacity of the director.”“If Donald Trump doesn’t like science-based evidence because it doesn’t support his partisan, fact-free view of the world, he cannot be permitted to silence the truth-tellers,” said Markey, who’s running against Rep. Joseph Kennedy III in the Democratic Senate primary.
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MARKEY'S PRESS RELEASE:
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-to-introduce-legislation-to-protect-dr-tony-fauci-research-institute-heads-from-politically-motivated-termination;
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and researchpurposes:Senator Markey to Introduce Legislation to Protect Dr. Tony Fauci, Research Institute Heads from Politically-Motivated Termination
Boston (April 14, 2020) – Two days ago, President Donald Trump retweeted a call to “#FireFauci”, referring to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease specialist and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). As currently written, the law allows the U.S. President to fire for any reason Directors of the national research institutes and national centers that are parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To address this deficiency, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) will introduce The National Institutes of Health Director Protection Act, legislation that would ensure that these Directors — officials such as Dr. Fauci – are removable only for malfeasance, neglect of office, or incapacity – not for having differing views on policy or expressing positions that are politically inconvenient. Similar protections exist for the heads of other independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and Social Security Administration. These protections prevent presidential politics from excessively influencing an administrator’s performance.“Dr. Fauci has become the most trusted voice of the science community in responding to this pandemic. He is not afraid to speak truth to power,” said Senator Markey. “But Donald Trump has an allergy to both – science and the truth. Our response to the coronavirus crisis must be based on science, on data, and on the truth. We cannot allow Donald Trump to silence Dr. Fauci or any other government scientists. Now more than ever, we must listen to our public health, medical, and scientific experts. If Donald Trump doesn’t like science-based evidence because it doesn’t support his partisan, fact-free view of the world, he cannot be permitted to silence the truth-tellers. This legislation will close the hole in the law that currently allows the President to fire a National Institutes of Health Director such as Dr. Fauci for any reason. Educating the public about the science and the facts that will save lives is not, and should never be, a firing offense.”A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.First appointed to his position in 1984, Dr. Fauci has led the agency, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under six U.S. presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan. President George W. Bush once said he had “absolute confidence” in Dr. Fauci and other health and scientific experts now leading the national response to the coronavirus outbreak. President Bush awarded Dr. Fauci the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
