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Kerry and Bush Camps Spar in S&T Policy Debate
September 30, 2004 -- While Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush prepared for their September 30 evening debate on foreign policy, representatives from the two campaigns met to debate the candidates' views on science and technology policy. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Forum on Science Issues featured heated, but cordial, exchanges on a range of science and policy issues.
Robert Walker, formerly Chairman of the House Science Committee and now Chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates, represented the Bush Campaign and physicist Henry Kelly, formerly Assistant Director for Technology of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, spoke for the Kerry campaign. The 90-minute debate was moderated by Mary Woolley, president of Research!America.
Walker focused on Bush's first four years in office, calling the Bush Administration "an Administration of Big Ideas." He highlighted four areas of accomplishment: security, ownership, opportunity, and innovation. He admitted that there was, "a good deal of skepticism in 2000," but after expounding upon increased federal R&D spending for most major agencies, he concluded that, "now there is a record… the Administration is an ally [of science] and will be one for years to come."
Conversely, Kelly addressed alleged missed opportunities in the past four years. He opened his argument by attacking the Administration's climate change policy, and affirmed the need to "[make] decisions in the face of uncertainty." He went on to criticize what he saw as the diminished role of science in making White House policy, emphasizing that the Bush Administration's energy policy was made behind "closed doors" without "sound analysis" from the science community.
After opening remarks the debate featured questions from the audience. It was in these exchanges that the two representatives defined the similarities and differences between the candidates. The most heated exchange occurred over the role of science in politics and the role of politics in science.
Walker informed the science community that if "personal politics" spill into their expert analysis, then "science will become a controversial subject rather than cooperative." He went on to issue a warning: "If [scientists] get into politics, they will find themselves in politics."
Kelly countered that "the spirit of open honest debate has not occurred in certain decisions in this Administration," and that it was the Administration's politics that have isolated the scientific community on issues such as climate change, energy policy, and stem cell research.
The S&T debate, which was advertised as "a prelude to Thursday night's nationally televised debate in Miami," had an audience of over 250 people, and "suggested that science and technology issues are likely to have a high profile in the weeks leading up to the 2 November election," according to AAAS.
In October Science magazine (published by AAAS) featured a Q&A article with Bush and Kerry. In it, the two candidates discuss their visions of the future of America's science and technology policy. The Science article and the full audio from the AAAS debate are available online.
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Jeremy Katzen
National Council for Science and the Environment
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-530-5810
E-mail: jkatzen@ncseonline.org
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