[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 17, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H4370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RESPECT FOR SCIENCE AND PURSUIT OF TRUTH

  (Ms. Johnson of Texas was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a 
topic that should transcend partisanship: respect for science and the 
pursuit of truth.
  History shows us that when nations embrace science, they grow 
stronger. When they suppress it, they grow weaker and often less free.
  Throughout our history, we have witnessed dictators and authoritarian 
leaders suppress science and knowledge because it threatened their 
rule.
  In Nazi Germany, Jewish scientists were forced out of universities, 
and research was put under complete control of the government. The 
result was not only the loss of a generation of brilliant minds but a 
society in which truth itself was subjugated to government propaganda.
  In Stalin's Soviet Union, biology was condemned as ``bourgeois 
science.'' Researchers who insisted on facts rather than ideology were 
imprisoned, killed, or sent to work in slave labor.
  Even as far back as Mao's Cultural Revolution, China dismantled 
academic institutions, silenced experts, and elevated loyalty over 
knowledge. Generations lost their chance at education, and the nation's 
progress was stunted.

  Mr. Speaker, if we do not learn from our history, we are doomed to 
repeat it. We are witnessing the same pattern repeating in our own 
lifetime.
  In Hungary, Viktor Orban has taken over universities, closed 
independent institutions, and forced academic programs to shut down 
when they contradict his political goals.
  In Russia, Vladimir Putin has jailed scientists and censored 
research, all to preserve the illusion of control and strength.
  What these regimes have in common is simple: They know that science, 
at its core, is a challenge to authoritarianism. Science is a search 
for truth. It cannot be dictated by politicians, so when science 
becomes an affront to the goals of authoritarian leaders, they attack 
it, suppress it, deny it, and replace it with propaganda and 
misinformation.
  Here at home, Donald Trump is following the same playbook. He has 
mocked climate scientists, dismissed decades of evidence, even as 
Americans suffer record floods, droughts, and wildfires.
  Donald Trump has undermined doctors and public health officials by 
putting the Nation's leading vaccine denier in charge of our public 
health. Trump has promoted unproven cures for diseases, cut billions in 
critical research funding, and dismantled advisory boards that create 
avenues for government to work with scientists to make good policy.
  In his 2026 budget, Trump is proposing to eliminate funding for the 
Administration for Community Living, which supports older and disabled 
Americans; the Department of Health and Human Services' Prevention and 
Public Health Fund; the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund; 
the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, an association of 16 academic 
centers and children's hospitals dedicated to trials of novel 
treatments for pediatric brain cancer; and so much more.
  We need to understand why this is happening and why Republicans in 
this Congress are supporting it. These attacks are not random. They are 
deliberate, and they prove a tendency by this President to emulate the 
authoritarians of the past and present.
  Trump's goal is to erode trust in experts, replace facts with 
loyalty, and convince Americans that only one man and one government 
can be trusted to define what is right and what is wrong. When a leader 
can erase truth and rewrite reality, they can justify anything. They 
can jail opponents. They can seize power and ignore the judges and the 
rule of law. They undermine the very essence of democracy itself.
  Mr. Speaker, science is not partisan. It is not our political enemy. 
It is a safeguard against lies and misinformation. When our Nation's 
top leaders attack it, they are not only rejecting evidence. They are 
rejecting accountability.
  America has always been strongest when we embrace discovery and not 
denial. When we put researchers, innovators, and problem-solvers to 
work--from curing polio to sending humans to the Moon and leading 
breakthroughs in clean energy and technology--our greatness has always 
come from empowering science, not mocking it.
  Trump and Republicans are working to gut these critical advancements. 
Their tactics echo the worst chapters of history, and they mirror the 
tactics of authoritarian regimes today. If we fail to call this out, we 
risk normalizing it.
  I believe the American people know what is at stake. They know that 
progress, safety, and freedom depend on science and truth, and truth 
cannot be dictated from a bully pulpit.

                              {time}  1030

  Defending science means defending democracy. It is about making sure 
our children inherit a nation that values evidence over propaganda and 
freedom over fear.
  We cannot let authoritarians' attack on truth take root here. We 
cannot let science become the casualty of politics because if we do, 
history shows us exactly where that road will lead.

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