Foster Introduces Legislation to Make Scientific Resources Available to Employees at Federal Agencies

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) introduced the Well-Informed, Scientific, & Efficient (WISE) Government Act to better equip federal agencies with the scientific literature necessary to make well-informed policy decisions. This legislation would require the U.S. General Services Administration to work with the Library of Congress, agency libraries, and government information services to identify ways to make accessing scientific literature more efficient and to identify short and long-term solutions. 

"To be able to make well-informed policy decisions, it’s essential that federal agencies are equipped with the most up-to-date information, especially scientific literature," said Congressman Foster. "It’s unacceptable that employees at federal agencies have a harder time accessing scientific literature than employees at most large universities. This must change if we are serious about growing our economy and promoting innovation. The WISE Government Act will help employees at agencies such as the Department of Defense, EPA, State Department, NASA and others access the latest scientific data in an efficient manner."

A copy of the legislation is available here.

The WISE Government Act is cosponsored by Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA), Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

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