Letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Public Access to Government Funded Research

September 15, 2004

The Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman, Appropriations Committee
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd
Ranking Member, Appropriations Committee
United States Senate
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators Stevens and Byrd:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses of every size, sector, and region, is writing to express its deep concern over efforts in the Senate Appropriations Committee to thwart the National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) plans to make federally funded scientific research publicly available. The Chamber opposes any effort to block the availability of government funded scientific research to the public, and strongly supports full public access to federally funded data.

This issue is ultimately about the transparency and accountability of government. Government funded research is frequently used by federal agencies as the basis for federal regulations. Given that federal regulations cost the American people in excess of $843 billion each year, the public deserves the right to review and evaluate the quality of the scientific research that underlies these regulations – especially when the public pays for it.

The debate over public access to publicly funded scientific research is not new. In 1998, the Chamber supported the Shelby Amendment, which requires federal agencies to make publicly funded research available through the Freedom of Information Act. The Chamber also welcomed NIH's recent notice that it plans to provide free, electronic access to all health research that it sponsors or funds (six months after it is published). Finally, the Chamber supports the House language in the current Health & Human Services appropriation supporting NIH's effort to make federally funded research publicly available. The Chamber believes that greater transparency is vital to improving the quality of federal regulations and ensuring meaningful public participation in the regulatory process.

The Chamber believes that current efforts to impede NIH's plans to make publicly funded research publicly available are ill-advised and will hinder efforts to improve the quality of science used in the rulemaking process. Accordingly, we urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to resist any efforts to impose such restrictions upon NIH or any other federal agency.

Thank you for your consideration of this highly important issue.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten
Executive Vice President, Government Affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

cc: All members of the Senate Appropriations Committee