[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 206 (Thursday, December 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S7234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED TODAY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of the following resolutions introduced 
earlier today en bloc: S. Res. 459, S. Res. 460, and S. Res. 461.
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolutions en bloc.


           AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, in recognition of its centennial 
anniversary, I rise to offer my congratulations and appreciation to the 
American Geophysical Union, also known as the AGU. Since December 1919, 
the AGU has played an instrumental role in supporting international 
cooperation while also fostering American leadership in the fields of 
Earth and space science. Senator Murkowski and I introduced a 
resolution in honor of this critical milestone, and I am pleased to see 
the Senate pass it today.
  The National Research Council created the AGU as the representative 
for the United States of America in the International Union of Geodesy 
and Geophysics in 1919. Only 1 year after the end of World War I, this 
was an occasion for international cooperation that illustrated the 
importance of bridging divides in the name of science. The AGU is a 
prime example of our Nation's commitment to a vision of shared peace 
and prosperity, and by serving as a key forum for gifted geophysicists 
from across the world, it is an example of our positive role in the 
international community for advancing knowledge.
  In the century since its founding, the AGU has connected countless 
geophysicists to facilitate information-sharing, peer review. and 
innovation. The AGU today counts more than 60,000 scientists and 
students among its membership, across 137 countries. Their work has not 
only expanded our understanding of our home planet and the celestial 
bodies beyond, but it has also led to critical health, environmental, 
commercial, and technological breakthroughs. If we are to confront 
climate change and other systemic challenges and, indeed, if we are 
truly to live as stewards in harmony with our surroundings, humanity 
needs the international cooperation and scientific integrity the AGU 
demonstrates so aptly.
  It is my hope that this resolution and the occasion of the AGU's 
centennial anniversary can inspire us all to appreciate the 
significance of scientific integrity and independence. Research from 
the geophysical community has deeply informed our society on the need 
for responding to pressing challenges, chief among them climate change. 
But unfortunately, it is not always so easy. Under President Trump, 
scientists have had to censor their work, voluntarily or involuntarily, 
due to political interference.
  Under the Trump administration, for instance, the United States 
Geological Survey has opted to limit the scope of the projected 
consequences of climate change through 2040, despite the agency's 
historic use of models stretching through 2100. Perhaps more worrisome, 
the White House released an Executive Order on June 14, 2019, that 
instructs each agency to slash at least one-third of its advisory 
committees, which consist of experts and scientists ready to advise on 
a wide range of issues, especially for the Environmental Protection 
Agency.
  Through reason and empiricism, science brings us closer to the truth. 
When administration officials or other individuals purposefully 
interfere with science to paint an incomplete, inaccurate, or 
misleading image, science ceases to be science and becomes just another 
battleground for politics. Policymakers should not be in the business 
of manipulating or silencing the work of the men and women who make up 
the scientific community. We should let scientists do their jobs. The 
AGU has done an excellent job representing many of those scientists 
over the last 100 years, and I congratulate it on the occasion of its 
centennial.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed 
to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 459) was agreed to.
  (The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted 
Resolutions.'')
  The resolutions (S. Res. 460 and S. Res. 461) were agreed to.
  The preambles were agreed to.
  (The resolutions, with their preambles, are printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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