Clinton Vows to End 'Assault on Science'
Condemning the Bush administration for waging a "war on science," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton drew on her childhood fascination with outer space as she promised to renew focus on research and scientific progress if elected president. She vowed to roll back limits on stem cell research and promote career scientists rather than ideologues.
"When I am president, scientific integrity will not be the exception, it will be the rule," she said.
In her speech, delivered at the Carnegie Institution for Science here on Thursday morning, Clinton told several stories about her own exposure to science as a child. The event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the Soviet explorer satellite that triggered a Cold War race to dominate space travel and prompted then President Dwight Eisenhower to encourage scientific study.
"I remember as though it were yesterday when my 5th grade teacher Mrs. Kraus came into our classroom and told us we had to study math and science because the president said so," Clinton said. "I was convinced President Eisenhower had called up Mrs. Kraus and told her, 'You tell those children, and particularly that Hillary, who doesn't really like math that much, that her country needs her.'"
Clinton - sometimes known to lapse into dry technical passages when addressing crowds of professionals - seemed determined to sound accessible. She paraphrased Stephen Colbert, the Comedy Central anchor, in describing what she said is President Bush's approach to science: "This administration doesn't make decisions on facts, it makes facts based on decisions." The crowd laughed.
To inspire more students to pursue science, she suggested a fictional television show along the lines of CSI, which led to a surge of interest in forensics. "Make up a character," she told the scientists in the audience.
She described her father's purchase, in 1957, of a pair of binoculars - to try to look for Sputnik, she said. And she recounted her own interest in space travel.
"This is personal for me because when I was in junior high school, I was just captivated by the space program. It caught my imagination. There was such a great burst of interest. I did my 8th grade science project on space medicine. Some of you know that I even wrote to NASA asking how I could apply to be an astronaut and got back an answer saying that they weren't taking women," she said, drawing laughter. She added: "I have lived long enough to see that change."
Large applause followed her promise to "end this assault on science" - she ticked off allegations the Bush administration had dismissed scientific inquiry among civil servants - and to appoint a White House adviser on science who would report directly to her as president. But the Republican party quickly pounced on her remarks, accusing her of warped accounting in her own campaign promises. "Hillary Clinton says she will bring integrity to science, but on the campaign travel she manipulates basic mathematics in her attempts to explain how she will pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending," Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz said in a statement after her speech.
--Anne E. Kornblut
Posted at 4:40 PM ET on Oct 4, 2007
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Comments
Posted by: SCSOCAL | October 5, 2007 6:40 PM | Report abuse
The comment by kaycwagner implies that conservatives are not well educated. in my immediate family, we have 4 masters degrees and 1 PHD. please do not imply that we are not as well educated as liberals are. This is prejudice, and is of the same kind that builds racism and ignorrance. I am well educated, but I do not believe I have a monopoly on the truth, and anyone who does, does is certainly mistaken.
Posted by: grigghaws | October 5, 2007 5:39 PM | Report abuse
"When I am president" -- That's arrogant coming from someone who hasn't even won the nomination.
Posted by: kenpalmer | October 5, 2007 5:32 PM | Report abuse
Thank you Sen. Clinton. I never doubted that one and all Dem. candadates would stride forthrightly into the 21st century. No matter who you favor for president, if they are Democrats, they stand for intellectual progress. It's any one's guess where the Republicans stand, they have been career 'suck ups' up to this point, who knows what they might do in order to cater to the extreme right. We must remove Republicans from office in Nov.'08 and restore the country's leadership to those who can read and write.
Posted by: kaycwagner | October 5, 2007 3:51 PM | Report abuse
"the Bush administration has not short changed science, they just have not let themselves be railroaded by scientists who have political motives"
- That's because the kind of "scientists" that Bush Jr. listens to couldn't build a railroad.
Posted by: TigerPaw1 | October 5, 2007 3:03 PM | Report abuse
If Hillary can spend eight years grooming Barack Obama for the next eight years, we would have 16 years of rational, common sense, and progressive government in this country. At 73, I could begin to enjoy my "golden years" and be ready to die a happy man.
Posted by: dickmcgee | October 5, 2007 2:40 PM | Report abuse
To get a feel for the GOP position on higher education just listen to their standard bearer George W. Id the man capable of actually speaking a complete sentence? Im still waiting.
Posted by: MarcMyWords | October 5, 2007 2:27 PM | Report abuse
Don't be mad at Bush, its the voters fault,
He did what his track record said he would:
Bankrupt the company (country), Made Texas' education the worst in the country (doing the same to the US Dept of Education), Texas' also had the worst health care among all the states and last but not least no border control. Who ever you vote for, please do not get caught up into nonsense non-issues look at the persons performance.
Posted by: ole6320 | October 5, 2007 1:37 PM | Report abuse
It's the anti-intellectual, anti-science bias of organized religion that supports Bush's politicization of Science. You can't argue with someones beliefs and faith and you must admire someone who "sticks to his guns". Get religion out of the government, make science a national security issue, research funding a public health issue and keep god, whatever she may or may not be, out of the lab and Science in America can start to recover. The Republican panderers have almost destroyed America's lead in innovation and technology.
Posted by: thebobbob | October 5, 2007 12:31 PM | Report abuse
Senator Clinton Thank you for restoring logic and reason into government. The benifits of such research is a direct investment in humanity. The Bush administration has stifled medical and scientific advancements. Do you believe the new administration should end the ban on ethical embryonic stem cell research be rescinded? -------->
http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=639
.
Posted by: PollM | October 5, 2007 9:48 AM | Report abuse
we can all thank hillary for ending the dark ages because we did not have science in the old days no hawking or albert.no man on the moon . hillary will save us all from the terrible world. and the evil gop you know every thing is there falt and the world will know no more war poverty sickness and we will fly in spaceships to other planets and make new freinds. give me a break.some of you have got to stop with the si fi channel and get a life
Posted by: getsix1 | October 5, 2007 3:42 AM | Report abuse
some science is fascinationg, I'm glad it will become a part of the 2008 elections.
Posted by: Sierra_08 | October 5, 2007 2:06 AM | Report abuse
It will be so refreshing to watch our government and mainstream media put an end to humoring the idiotic anti-science right.
Posted by: wideblacksky | October 5, 2007 12:01 AM | Report abuse
What happened to seperation of church and state? Georbe Bush has done so much harm that I will have a party when Hilary is elected! All she has to do to continue the progress of science is NOT veto a stem cell bill!
Posted by: tscpimp | October 4, 2007 11:26 PM | Report abuse
When Sen. Hilary Clinton says, "When I am president, scientific integrity will not be the exception, it will be the rule," I think it's fantastic and lets hope she keeps that after the election. The science should have been the rule a long time ago instead of falls decisions that made by the current and past governments. Bush Administration keeps sending troops to the war in Iraq, if this continues then there will be no any young men and women left to take over the next generation. President Bush should be paying more attention to American education and pay more qualified teachers to teach high school students with Advanced Placed Science and Mathematic courses!!!
Posted by: thamorod | October 4, 2007 10:29 PM | Report abuse
Actually, the Bush administration has not short changed science, they just have not let themselves be railroaded by scientists who have political motives, at least not as much as Hilary seems to be promising.
Now, does anyone doubt that NASA, DOE, Government Laboratories, Universities with Government grants have unlimited appetites for funding of the next project whether it makes any sense or not?
And, if the Global Warming crowd gets the trillions of dollars it is demanding to stop the Earth from warming one degree in a hundred years, we will all be poorer for it.
This is sheer demagogery and we should all see it for what it is, a lie told for political purposes.
Posted by: aelemay | October 4, 2007 10:05 PM | Report abuse
The essence of science is a quest for the truth. I can understand how this would make the Bush administration uncomfortable. Their understanding of the truth is that which best promotes their own immediate interests. They are the true bottom feeders of the cess pool they have created. We are all he worse for it.
Posted by: Supercritic | October 4, 2007 9:03 PM | Report abuse
Hillary just plain rocks. It is time to end the ban on stem cell reasearch. The diseases we have let progress without proper reasearch is unforgivable.
I certainly hope Alzheimers is not prevalent in the Bush family . . . oh, but even then, they will have that wonderful health care coverage that millions of Americans are without.
W has regressed this wonderful country of ours in every way imaginable and Hillary will be the one to pull up the boot straps and lead us out.
Posted by: mel | October 4, 2007 7:35 PM | Report abuse
Yes, I agree that science must be restored to it's rightful position as the leading subject taught in schools of the future.
Without true science where would the United States of America be at this present time? No doubt a bumbling third world country of little significance!
Only science can make a nation great, and without it, you may as well not exist.
No doubt the future belongs to space exploration as the salvation of humankind as our billions multiply.
However, I would suggest that endless robotic missions land material for site construction well in advance of any human activity. This is plain logic to me.
Posted by: vern74 | October 4, 2007 7:26 PM | Report abuse
Bush is a giant Numbskull. His only interest is in keeping the people under his thumb. Mr. Big Decision Maker only makes Big Decision that are completely stupid. His ignorance is consistant.
If Rudy (the policeman) gets nominated at GOP convention, Hillary is a ShooIn. Of all the Rep. candidates this man 's ignorance matches that of GWB. and he is a mean little twerp We have had enough of mean little twerps who's motto is "MURDER FOR MONEY"
Posted by: LOONYBIN2000 | October 4, 2007 7:23 PM | Report abuse
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Those that know Hillary knows she lies!!
If you didn't learn that after 8 years of the Clinton's being in the White House, you
were asleep!! Hillary will say and do anything to get herself and Bill in the White House!! You cannot believe her!!
Like David Geffen said recently, all politicians lie but Hillary and Bill do it so effortlessly!!
She will have us in government run health
care and more entitlement programs than you can possibly imagine. She likes big
government and likes telling people how to run their life, because she thinks everyone
is stupid!! She will never answer a direct
question and tell you what she really thinks because she's afraid she will lose
votes. She is not a leader, she is a divider and a bully!!
What are her accomplishments?? Take off the rose colored glasses, she wants to get into your pocketbook big time!!