Scientific Integrity Act - To amend the America COMPETES Act

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

An Act amending the America COMPETES Act to establish scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research. It sets a congressional sense that public policy should be informed by trustworthy science free from politics, ideology, and conflicts of interest. Covered agencies must adopt enforceable integrity policies within set timelines, publish approved policies, and submit them to Congress.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AMERICA COMPETES ACT

(a) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES

(b) REQUIREMENTS

II 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4545 To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish certain scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 14, 2026 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. WARREN, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish certain scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scientific Integrity 5 Act’’. 2 1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 2 It is the sense of Congress that— 3 (1) science and the scientific process should 4 help inform and guide public policy decisions on a 5 wide range of issues, including improvement of pub- 6 lic health, protection of the environment, and protec- 7 tion of national security; 8 (2) the public must be able to trust the science 9 and scientific process informing public policy deci- 10 sions; 11 (3) science, the scientific process, and the com- 12 munication of science should be free from politics, 13 ideology, and financial conflicts of interest; 14 (4) policies and procedures that ensure the in- 15 tegrity of the conduct and communication of publicly 16 funded science are critical to ensuring public trust; 17 (5) a Federal agency that funds, conducts, or 18 oversees research should not suppress, alter, inter- 19 fere with, or otherwise impede the timely commu- 20 nication and open exchange of data and findings to 21 other agencies, policymakers, and the public of re- 22 search conducted by a scientist or engineer employed 23 or contracted by a Federal agency that funds, con- 24 ducts, or oversees scientific research; 3 1 (6) Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or 2 oversee research should work to prevent the suppres- 3 sion or distortion of the data and findings; 4 (7) under the First Amendment to the Con- 5 stitution of the United States, citizens of the United 6 States have the right to ‘‘petition the government 7 for a redress of grievances’’; and 8 (8) Congress has further protected those rights 9 under section 7211 of title 5, United States Code, 10 which states, ‘‘[t]he right of employees, individually 11 or collectively, to petition Congress or a member of 12 Congress may not be interfered with or denied’’. 13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AMERICA COMPETES ACT. 14 Section 1009 of the America COMPETES Act (42 15 U. S.C. 6620) is amended by striking subsections (a) and 16 (b) and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(a) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICIES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 19 after the date of the enactment of the Scientific In- 20 tegrity Act, the head of each covered agency shall— 21 ‘‘(A) adopt and enforce a scientific integ- 22 rity policy in accordance with subsections (b) 23 and (c); and 4 1 ‘‘(B) submit such policy to the Director of 2 the Office of Science and Technology Policy for 3 approval. 4 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days 5 after the Director of the Office of Science and Tech- 6 nology Policy approves the scientific integrity policy 7 under paragraph (1) with respect to a covered agen- 8 cy, the head of that agency shall— 9 ‘‘(A) make such policy available to the 10 public on the website of the agency; and 11 ‘‘(B) submit such policy to the relevant 12 Committees of Congress. 13 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS

FAQs

What is the short title of the Act?

The Act may be cited as the “Scientific Integrity Act.”

What does the Act establish for covered Federal agencies?

It requires the head of each covered agency to adopt and enforce a scientific integrity policy and to submit that policy for approval, followed by publication and submission to relevant Congressional committees.

What key requirements must a scientific integrity policy include?

The policy must prohibit scientific and research misconduct (including suppression or distortion of findings) and intimidation or retaliation, while allowing dissemination activities such as conference participation and publication in peer-reviewed outlets, subject to existing law.

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah