Speaker 1 (00:00):
… and live together as brothers. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
Heavy D & The Boyz (00:00):
Here we go.
DC Labor Chorus (00:00):
We're just doing a sound check right now. I think the sound check is, "Everybody come on in this house."
(00:00)
Everybody come on in this house. Everybody come on in this house. Everybody come on in this house. Come on in this house [inaudible 00:00:19].
(00:00)
Give it up, give it up.
Heavy D & The Boyz (00:19):
I don't understand why you can't lend a helping hand to another man who is your brother man. Times must change. Now, here's the plan. Let's make this land a better land.
(00:19)
Uh-oh! Excuse me, man. You stepped on my foot. You feel the brother's life should be took? Don't be ridiculous. Come on and get with this movement for improvement. Together, we'll get rid of this setback, and in fact, the knowledge that we lack we'll gain back and re- track the steps that we lost back when times were hard. But things are getting better. They said when it's cold, one should wear a sweater. Crack, a substance smoked by the idiot, sold by the thoughtless, allowed by the government. Those who speak politically, it's all trickery. I don't get with fools, and fools, they can't get with me.
(02:10)
Well, well, well, look at here, guess what happened. A fight at a concert, and they blame it on rapping. Don't you have anything else better to do than to diss rap and the things that we do? Make it a better land.
(02:16)
We've got to make this world a better land. We've got to make this world a better land.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Make sure you introduce yourself and have your social media handle, so everybody can follow you. All right?
Johnny Sunrise (04:04):
Yeah. Hi, everybody. I'm Johnny Sunrise. I'll be playing a little later on. I think Chris is doing a quick little check.
Jake (10:38):
Check.
(10:38)
Is this thing on?
(10:45)
All right, everybody. Welcome to Stand Up For Science 2025.
(10:46)
My name is Jake. I am a co-lead organizer here, and I'm excited to get these speakers in front of you, so we can talk about the attack on science currently. The first person I have up is Dr. Jonathan Berman. He is a scientist, science educator, and a science advocate who organized the original March For Science 2017. He's a big reason why we are here today.
(11:19)
Please join me in welcoming Jonathan Berman.
Jonathan Berman (11:25):
I would kind of hoped that the next time I would be coming to DC, it would be to visit the Smithsonian or something and not this again. But we can't stand up for science once. We have to continually advocate for science because there might have been community attacks. And I guess I'm here to kind of pass this onto the group of organizers, and it is always a group, not just one person. And there's a fantastic group of organizers who put this together, Collette, JP, Emma, Sam, Leslie, and many other people. So I deeply applaud for them and say thank you.
(12:23)
In science, the epistemic method is how we learn about the world, and innovate, and solve problems. And the enterprise of science creates jobs and innovations, and every dollar we invest in research comes back many fold in [inaudible 00:12:45], and technology, and more dollars. And we're not done. This is [inaudible 00:12:57] science. One of the things we do best. We are here to make a stand and have a fun experience, but we're here to protest and send a message.
(13:17)
And I think the fact that this has been organized largely by graduate students says that those of us with the resources should be using them, and we should take on as much agency as we can to make a difference. So I am going to hand this off to JP again. Thank you so much for coming, and stand up for science.
Jake (14:01):
I love that man. If you've been reading any of the articles, he's a big reason to why we're here. He gave us the outline for everything. Up next, we have Dr. Phil Plait, an astronomer and science communicator. He has appeared on many TV shows talking about astronomy, and he was the head science writer for season one of Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix. He worked for decades on debunking bad science and defending it when it comes under attack. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Phil Plait.
Dr. Phil Plait (14:36):
That's right. Not that anybody else heard. I heard that. So good. Thank you. Thank you everybody for coming out here. Hey, nerds. This is my wife's idea. We're going to take these back. This belongs to everybody. So in his 2009 comedy show, Weapons of Self-Destruction… You know, I knew that was going to happen. Should have asked Michael Mann. He knows all about the weather.
(15:09)
In his 2009 comedy show, Weapons of Self-Destruction, the incomparable Robin Williams describes an interview he did with a German talk show. The interviewer asked him, "Mr. Williams, why do you think there is not so much comedy in Germany?"
(15:20)
Williams replied, "Did you ever think you killed all the funny people?"
(15:26)
It's funny because it's true. In 1933, Hitler issued a law that said that any government workers who had at least one Jewish grandparent who stood against the Nazis were to be dismissed. The result, an Exodus, a flood of people leaving Germany, including hundreds of scientists. One of those scientists was Albert Einstein. Many others went on to revolutionize our understanding of physics. None of them did that under the German flag.
(15:55)
In the 1920s, a biology-denying crackpot named Trofim Lysenko claimed that natural selection was wrong. He found favor with Stalin, who made him the head of an important science academy, and he put this new biology into practice. The result, thousands of actual scientists were imprisoned or exiled, and Lysenko's practices wound up prolonging a lot of famines that killed millions of people. Soviet work across many of the sciences also was set back decades.
(16:28)
And now, here we are. We are looking at the most aggressively anti-science government the United States has ever had.
Crowd (16:36):
Boo!
Dr. Phil Plait (16:42):
Boo! Agree. One example, RFK Jr.
Crowd (16:51):
Boo!
Dr. Phil Plait (16:51):
Man, I hope he's watching this. He is antivax. He is anti-medicine. He's expressed doubts about germ theory. Germ theory! In 2019, he stoked already existing vaccine fears in Samoa, casting further doubts on them. And the result was a measles outbreak that killed 83 people, mostly children. And now he's the head of Health and Human Services. He's already undermining critical medical research.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Boo!
Dr. Phil Plait (17:20):
Yeah, he's already undermining critical medical research, including vaccinations against COVID, the flu, the bird flu, and measles, even as an outbreak of measles has infected over 150 people, and one child has died. And I learned that yesterday, another person died in this outbreak as well in New Mexico. His reaction, he shrugged and literally said, "Outbreaks are not unusual." Not unusual.
Crowd (17:44):
Boo!
Dr. Phil Plait (17:47):
He has downplayed vaccinations and instead promoted BS pseudoscience, like taking vitamin A and cod liver oil to prevent infections. These don't work. Even during the deadliest outbreak of measles in two decades in the United States, he can't be bothered to actively tell people to get vaccines, one of the most effective and proven scientific methods to prevent kids from dying.
(18:10)
Now on the other hand, he took this action, meager as it is, because the problem in Texas of the measles got too big to ignore. We can't let these anti-science issues get that big. We have to be too big to ignore. We have fought anti-science in this country before and we've won. Creationists, antivaxxers, climate science deniers, we have taken them on. And while these fights continue, we've made a lot of progress. We made a lot of progress, but only when we take action, action in the courts, action in the streets, actions online. We do this because we know what happens when governments attack science and when they make science denial official policy. People's lives are thrown into disarray, and millions can and do die. That's what happens when you deny science on a national scale. That's what happens when we don't fight. We cannot let this continue. We have to take science back. Talk to your representatives. Talk to your senators. Talk to your family, your neighbors, your friends. March, protest, go to rallies, make your voice heard. Science is for all of us, so we must stand up for science. Thank you.
Jake (20:00):
All right, y'all. Up next, we have Dr. Gretchen Goldman, an environmental scientist, policy advocate, and the President of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Previously, she served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Assistant Director for Environmental Science, Engineering, Policy, and Justice, and at the US Department of Transportation as the Climate Change Research and Technology Director. Throughout her career, Dr. Goldman has been a science advocate and thought leader across the science and decision-making ecosystem. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Gretchen Goldman.
Dr. Gretchen Goldman (20:39):
Hello, Washington, DC! Hello to my fellow scientists! And hello to all of you here today to stand up for science!
(20:56)
I'm Gretchen Goldman, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists. We work at the intersection of science and policy for a safer world and a healthier planet and people. I'm also a proud former federal scientist. And yes, I'm a current concerned scientist as well.
(21:19)
And we are, in fact, deeply concerned. We are angry. We are resolute in our decision to support science and the critical role that scientists play to inform and drive policy and decisions that save lives because we know that when science is ignored, censored, tampered with, hit with misinformation, and defunded that people get hurt.
(21:53)
And when there's no funding for scientific research into disease prevention and cures, real people will suffer. When there's no one to keep our food, air, and water quality safe and clean, real people will get sick. When there's no one watching and alerting us to hurricanes, wildfires, and other extreme weather and climate impacts, people will die. When people are restricted from working on science that involves diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and environmental justice, then real communities are harmed. And so we must save science and save lives.
(22:26)
Make no mistake, this administration is attacking people who tell the truth, those who promote facts, evidence, and reality that it doesn't like. The administration is firing, and bullying, and threatening scientists and workers across the government who make the world a better place, a safer place, a healthier place, workers who quietly save lives every day. And the administration refuses to face what science tells them. Science shines a light on this administration's lies, its misinformation, its disinformation, and its efforts to advance the corrupt agenda that benefits billionaires and fossil fuel companies at the expense of people and the planet.
(23:37)
And so we stand together today to raise our voices together and to tell the administration that we will not back down. Today, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to be united in this moment and to do everything we can to insist that the federal government works to save science and to save lives. So do not be intimidated. Do not back down. Do not let them silence you or the science that keeps us all safe. If you are a federal scientist, join us at the Union of Concerned Scientists for resources and support. If you're any scientist or any science supporter, join our Save Science, Save Lives campaign to demand that DOGE get out of our government and demand a halt to these illegal funding freezes. So let's unite together in our common cause today because united we fight, united we win, and united we science. Thank you, DC!
Jake (25:19):
All right, everybody. That's a great sign, "Make a statistically significant difference." Yeah, that's a great sign! It's my pleasure to introduce the first musical act of the day, the DC Labor Choir.
DC Labor Chorus (25:33):
Thank you, everybody. We are the DC Labor Chorus. Jamie Raskin has called us the musical arm of the Resistance. We are here to raise our voices with you as scientists. We're going to sing loud. We're going to sing proud. We're going to sing two tunes that have been around a while that hopefully you know, and please sing along with us.
(26:03)
This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Oh, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
(26:03)
Science lights the way! Science lights the way. I'm going to let it shine. Oh, science lights the way. I'm going to let it shine. Science lights the way. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
(26:03)
Science improves our lives. Science improves our lives. I'm going to let it shine. Oh, science improves our lives. I'm going to let it shine. Science improves our lives. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
(26:03)
Everywhere we go! Everywhere we go, I'm going to let it shine. Oh, everywhere we go, we're going to let it shine. Everywhere we go, we're going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
(26:03)
We shall not, we shall not be moved. We shall not, we shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved.
(26:03)
We're standing up for science! We're standing up for science. We shall not be moved. We're standing up for science. We shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved.
(26:03)
We're fighting for our future. Fighting for our future, we shall not be moved. We're fighting for our future. We shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved.
(26:03)
We're going to stand and fight together. We'll stand and fight together. We shall not be moved. We'll stand and fight together. We shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved.
(26:03)
One more time. We shall not, we shall not be moved. We shall not, we shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved.
(26:03)
Stand strong. We're with you. Join DC Labor Chorus.
Jake (30:31):
She said, "Join it," right? After that, I want to join it. It is my great honor to introduce our next speaker. Dr. Atul Gawande is the former Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID. He's a renowned surgeon, author, and public health leader. His previous roles include serving as a practicing general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, as a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and he is also a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. Please join me in welcoming the amazing Dr. Atul Gawande.
Dr. Atul Gawande (31:11):
Are you scientists?
Crowd (31:12):
Yeah!
Dr. Atul Gawande (31:12):
Are you health professionals?
Crowd (31:15):
Yeah!
Dr. Atul Gawande (31:15):
Are you nerds?
Crowd (31:15):
Yeah!
Dr. Atul Gawande (31:21):
We have a job to do. Are you with me on this job?
Crowd (31:26):
Yeah!
Dr. Atul Gawande (31:28):
This job is that we must bear witness. We must bear witness to the harm, to the dangerous game that they are playing, and to the truth. Here's the game that they are playing. They take a spreadsheet with the work of thousands of scientists and professionals. They scan for examples they can distort and ridicule. They ask no one what their work actually is. They ignore obvious information about it. They'll call hormone and transgenic research in mice, "Making transgender mice."
Crowd (32:23):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (32:23):
They'll ridicule male circumcision programs in Mozambique, which cuts HIV transmission two-thirds and has saved thousands of people from HIV. They will call programs to prevent HIV in transgender populations, in men who have sex with men, and IV drug users, they will call that "DEI…"
Crowd (32:54):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (33:02):
… when they will cause deaths from this occurring. Then they make absurd claims that this indicates rampant waste and fraud.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Lies.
Dr. Atul Gawande (33:20):
Boo! They'll demand that there is loyalty to repeat these lies, and then they use the lies to gleefully stop serious, important funding and work.
Crowd (33:32):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (33:37):
They will use these lies to take down entire agencies like USAID.
Crowd (33:42):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (33:47):
They destroy thousands of careers. I watch people walk out the door with their boxes containing their entire careers, fired and purged by the thousands.
Crowd (34:03):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (34:07):
Then they deny the harm to millions of lives. They've done it at USAID. They are now doing it at NIH, at CDC, at FDA, and beyond.
Crowd (34:07):
Boo!
Dr. Atul Gawande (34:07):
Shame! Shame! Shame!
Crowd (34:07):
Shame!
Dr. Atul Gawande (34:39):
They're denying the harm in order to destroy an engine that made the US the greatest driver of science, of health, and of prosperity in the world.
(34:45)
So here is our job. Don't just debunk the lies, but debunk the lies. Point out the game.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
… point out the game that they are playing. That is an essential thing. The science says that's how you debunk. You point out the game. Now ask yourself, "Why are they doing this? Why would they do this?" It's for the same reason the Inquisition imprisoned Galileo. It is the same reason that Einstein had to flee Hitler's Germany. It's because science is independent. It's because science doesn't always give the answers that power wants. So what are we going to do? Bear witness, tell your story. Not just here, but wherever you are. Tell your story in court. Tell your story to Congress. But above all, tell your story to the people you know where you came from, everywhere around the country. This place does not drive change. This place in DC follows change. It's the people who make the difference. So tell your family, tell your friends, tell the people that you know. And so I want you to pledge with me right now. Pledge with me. I will bear witness to the truth, to the harm that they are doing and to their dangerous and deadly game. Thank you, everybody.
JP (37:05):
I remember at the start of the year how paralyzed I felt and I just wanted to scream. So real quick, everybody, just let it all out right now. I'm excited to introduce our next speaker, Dr. Haley Chatelaine, a post-doctoral research fellow at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the NIH. Please join me in one big applause… Or many. Please welcome Dr. Haley Chatelaine.
Dr. Haley Chatelaine (39:13):
[inaudible 00:38:05]. All right. My name is Haley Chatelaine. I use she/her pronouns and I'm the vice president of our union, UAW 2750 NIH scholars united. [inaudible 00:38:32]. All right. Now, guys, I started at the National Institutes of Health three years ago. Let me tell you, when I started, I was so proud. I had been a doctor for all of two weeks and I was setting off to do science at the best place in the world, not only that, I was going to do science for my country. Do you guys know the science that I do personally is inherently a team sport? I use cutting edge big data techniques to find out how the chemistry in our body changes when we get sick. And I work with pieces of experts to take all of that chemical information and turn it into new ways to find treatments for diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer. I know that if we want to find treatment for more diseases that are bolder and more efficient even, then we need diverse and inclusive scientists so that we can leverage all of our expertise.
(39:50)
And our union is a team too, ain't that right? All right. We're a team that wins for science. Two years ago, we wanted recognition as the largest federal union in a decade. In this past December, we won a historic contract that sets the standard for early career scientists throughout the country. Our contract reflects real worker-run rights to protect the science that we love and believe in when others would prefer to sow chaos. And that's just us at NIH, but we're part of the whole movement. When they froze grant funding, we teamed up with unions across the country to host a phone day to call our congresspeople. More than 1,000 people showed up. Guess what happened the next day? There's a restraining order on those grant freezes. And when they unjustly fired our co-workers, [inaudible 00:41:17]. We showed up at the front door of health and human services. We had a rally.
(40:51)
And the news outlets from across the country across the world, they showed up, they reported, and they showed everybody that we, not those guys with the hair and the chainsaws, are the face of a unionized government scientific workforce that fights for the American people. And we're all keeping this up here today. As scientists, we stand on the shoulders of giants. And today, we are standing shoulder to shoulder with giants. Everybody here has the ability to move us forward. Everybody here is a leader. Lead with your hearts now. See what's going on around you. Join your union if you have one. Call your congresspeople, talk to your family, talk to your friends, your neighbors, especially if they're in a red state, and even if they're difficult to talk to, and say this shit with your chest, "We will not stand for the dismantling of the American scientific workforce. We will not stand for the dismantling of American scientific progress. We will stand together to fight for it." Now say this with me. We discover together. We innovate together. We stand together. We discover together. We innovate together. We stand together. Let me hear [inaudible 00:43:34].
Dr. Francis Collins (44:10):
Hello, everybody. It's my great privilege to introduce the next speaker. I asked for the privilege to do so. You'll hear from me a little bit, a little while, but right now, I want you to hear from a remarkable young woman, Emily Whitehead, the very first person to receive CAR T and cell therapy for cancer, [inaudible 00:44:31] pretty much done with all the possible opportunities that could have helped and CAR T came along. And now please welcome Emily Whitehead, sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania and her father, Tom.
Emily Whitehead (44:58):
Hi, everyone. My name is Emily Whitehead and I'm here today because, almost 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of five. The doctors told my parents that if you have a kid with cancer, ALL is the most curable. However, that wasn't the case for me. After undergoing 22 months of failed chemotherapy, they were ready to send me home on hospice and told my parents to enjoy the days that they have left with me. But miraculously, a phase one clinical trial at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia had just opened and was ready to try it on their first pediatric patient. In April of 2012, I became the first child in the world to receive CAR T-cell therapy, which framed my immune system to beat my cancer.
(45:42)
Today, I'm almost 13 years cancer-free. I'm a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying English and photography. I am a patient advocate who spreads awareness of less toxic cancer treatments that exist today because of science. Without funding research that went into developing the treatment that saved my life, I wouldn't be here today. I stand up for science for all of the other children all over the world who are fighting cancer so they can get back to their childhood outside of the hospital. I stand up for science so kids can grow up to be the next generation of scientists. I stand up for science for underrepresented groups whose voices are not as heard as mine. Every child deserves equal and equitable access to life-saving treatments, no matter their background identities or where they come from. I stand up for science because science saved my life and that is a fact. Thank you.
JP (47:37):
All right. Up next, I have the great pleasure to introduce one of my mentors and one of my role models and scientific heroes. Dr. Francis Collins is an American physician-scientist to discover the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He served as director of the NIH, 2009 to 2021, serving under three presidents. Dr. Collins announced his retirement publicly from the NIH six days ago on March 1st, 2025 after 32 years of service. Please, please, please join me in welcoming one of my friends, role model, mentors, Dr. Francis Collins.
Dr. Francis Collins (49:08):
Well, thanks, JP. That was a really nice introduction, and let me maybe ask you one more time to cheer for JP, for Emma, for Sam, for Collette, all the people that have organized this [inaudible 00:48:52]. So we're gathered here in front of the Lincoln Memorial, at this sacred civic space, and we're celebrating the achievements of science over decades in bettering the human condition and advocating for strong public support at a time when serious threats of harm are happening.
(49:24)
I'm a physician-scientist, you've heard, I spent 32 years at NIH, including [inaudible 00:49:28] Human Genome Project and serving presidents of both parties as a director, but I'm patriot and I love my country and I'm worried about my country right now. Just behind me [inaudible 00:49:28] and visit the memorial, you'll see etched on the wall the 271 unforgettable words of the Gettysburg Address. The [inaudible 00:50:01] might be a parallel there to what we're talking about. Let me remind you of the last sentence of that Gettysburg Address. "That this nation, under God, shall have a new worth of freedom and the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Are we still there? Well, science [inaudible 00:50:32] the people, has it? We're studying ourselves sometimes to help ourselves to flourish. The Human Genome Project after all, this thirteen-year effort, revealed our own [inaudible 00:50:47] to transform human biology of medicine. And ladies know this, that project only succeeded to the strong support of members of Congress and presidents of both parties back then.
(50:58)
A little fun fact. An estimate several years ago suggested that every dollar the government invested in the Human Genome Project led to $141 in economic returns. It's not [inaudible 00:51:18]. We should be emphasizing that part for the people who are less swayed by arguments about saving lives. We're also saving money. Come on. I say visionary of the people perspective is birthed on a number of other bold projects supported by the federal government. The BRAIN Initiative. [inaudible 00:51:46] how those 86 billion neurons between your ears do what they do? We're on the path to do that. Maybe All of Us initiative and [inaudible 00:51:56] almost a million Americans to figure out genetics, environments, health behaviors, social, all those that impact [inaudible 00:52:06] that we don't understand well enough. That is a big, bold effort. But I have to tell you, both of those groundbreaking projects, [inaudible 00:52:16] BRAIN and All of Us, are now at severe risk because of budget and workforce cuts.
(51:39)
[inaudible 00:52:27]. Well, yeah, who does the science? All right, you guys. Yeah. Biologists, engineers, computer scientists, AI experts, disease advocates, health professionals, economists, physicians, patient partners, biologists. It's all of that. That is the by the people that make science happen. [inaudible 00:52:59] also an ecosystem of contributions from the public and the private sectors with some help from philanthropy. But by far, the most important source of basic science support in the United States is the federal government. And it works. Do you know a recent survey showed that more than 99% of new drug approvals depended in some way on NIH research? 99%. So industry also has a lot to lose if the federal investment is damaged. By the way, it would be good to hear more about that from pharmaceutical company leaders. Just saying. And the talent that makes up by the people comes from lots of different backgrounds.
(53:59)
Diversity of perspectives and opinions leads to greater productivity. You know that? Diversity in the workforce is not just a nice social idea. It's a way to enhance success of the whole enterprise. We should keep saying that. People seem somehow to have missed that point. Some of them have. And now science is also for the people. Cystic fibrosis used to be associated with death in your teens. And now, thanks to 30 years of hard work involving lots of NIH support, working with a philanthropy, the CF Foundation and industry, CF is now leading to an opportunity for people to make retirement plans. Can you believe that? Sickle cell is being cured by gene therapy. Thousands of other rare diseases, and we'll hear about a couple of folks in that circumstance shortly, are being potentially cured in the coming decade, with CRISPR and gene editing. Individuals, what seem to be hopeless late-stage cancers, like Emily, who you just heard about, are using chemotherapy on top of immunotherapy and achieving dramatic responses even cures. We're finally making real progress in Alzheimer's disease, but we got a long way to go, and this would be a terrible time to slow down that momentum. And for infectious disease, which continues to be a major threat to humanity across the globe, that rollout of mRNA vaccines in just 11 months after the first detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus… Yeah. That will be seen by historians as perhaps science's greatest achievement up until now. I kid you not. And that saved three million lives in the US alone. Probably some of us here, although we might not know we were the ones saved, but that's the estimate. So are we done? Huh? No-
Dr. Haley Chatelaine (56:26):
No.
Dr. Francis Collins (56:28):
With the risk of H5N1 and Mpox, some strange thing that's happening in the Congo and other pandemic pathogens threatening our future, this would be a terrible time to dismantle our infectious disease research and our global public health efforts. So the success of the American scientific enterprise, which is the envy of the rest of the world over the last past decades, it is of the people, by the people, and for the people. It's been one of our nation's greatest achievements, enabling stunning discoveries about how life works, extended life expectancy, reduced disease burden. And by the way, science is responsible for more than 50% of the economic growth of the United States since World War II. That's a fact and not an opinion. Can there be improvements in efficiency of government agencies? Of course, there can. During my 12 years as NIH director, we talked about those almost every day, and the search should continue. But interventions need to be made with full understanding of the whole ecosystem. While moving fast and breaking things might be an appropriate mantra for Silicon Valley, a better mantra when the decisions will potentially disrupt an institution with a stunningly positive track record and affect the future health of the nation, let's go with, first, do no harm. So, finally, I just want to give testimony to the people who make science what it is. Some people think it's technologies or it's buildings. No, it's the people who do this. It's graduate students working in the lab at 2:00 AM to finish an experiment.
JP (58:42):
All-nighters.
Dr. Francis Collins (58:42):
It's engineers that are developing a new technology that allow us to understand how brain circuits work. And it's patients with cancer, by the way, like me, I'm a cancer survivor, putting their trust in the research enterprise and taking part in a clinical trial as I have done. Those are the people. And those people are all of you who are here today to declare your support for this noble human enterprise. I think if we're going to talk about people, there's one more thing we need to do before I sit down. We need to sing about them. Okay, we're going to hope the wind doesn't get the better of this. I mean, get a guitar, and this is a sing-a-long and it has a chorus that's really easy to learn. Can you find the guitar? Hello, sound booth. Can I get a little hint if we might be getting this to work? Yes, [inaudible 01:00:33] up.
Dr. Haley Chatelaine (01:00:32):
We are good to go.
Dr. Francis Collins (01:00:34):
You can? Okay, good. I can't tell. So this is a song that's often sung at the end of a folk festival, but it's been rewritten for today by me. It's a song about all the good people that I was just talking about. You are all the good people.
(01:00:51)
Well, this is a song for all the good people. All the good people who are part of this family.
(01:01:04)
This is a song for all the good people we're joined together by this noble dream.
(01:01:14)
You got that? So it's just all the good people, but the second line, part of this family, and the last line, we're joined together by this noble dream. Do that with me.
(01:01:23)
This is a song for all the good people… Come on.
(01:01:27)
All the good people who are part this family. This is for all people we're joined together by this noble dream.
(01:01:44)
Well, this is a song for all of those dreamers who are looking for answers to calm our way.
(01:01:54)
Scientists, doctors, students, all seekers share in the hopes for a much brighter day.
(01:01:54)
Come on now. Well, this is a song for all the good people, all the good people who are part of this family.
(01:01:54)
This is a song for all the good people we're joined together by this noble dream.
(01:01:54)
Well, this is a song for all of the patients. Your strength and your spirit have touched one and all.
(01:01:54)
It's your dedication that's our inspiration, when we see your courage, we have to stand tall.
(01:01:54)
So this is a song for all the good people, all the good people who are part of this family.
(01:01:54)
This is a song for all the good people we're joined together by this noble dream.
(01:01:54)
So come on you people and stand up for science, come join this alliance to make those dreams clear.
(01:03:20)
It's [inaudible 01:03:23] it's high and it's for the people, what Lincoln was thinking, it's now and it's here.
(01:03:20)
So this is a song for all of the people, all of the people who are part of this family.
(01:03:20)
This is a song for all of the people we're joined together by this noble dream, we're joined together by this noble dream.
JP (01:04:50):
Check one, check two. We couldn't really hear this because of the music, but I did hear some Francis chants. So maybe one more time. Francis, Francis.
Dr. Haley Chatelaine (01:04:55):
Francis, Francis, Francis, Francis.
JP (01:05:04):
Awesome, y'all. So I just got a note over at the booth. It says, "Shout out to everyone from Johns Hopkins University." There'll be a photo shoot for all the JHU community members at 1:30 at the top of the memorial behind the stage. Thank you for your support. JSU stands for science. Up next is my pleasure to introduce Gabriella Amaya, an advocate who shares her journey living with Ollier's Disease, a rare bone disorder that caused malformed growth in her right leg and required multiple surgeries during childhood. Her experiences of navigating a non-typical childhood, physical pain, and later, ovarian cancer, have shaped her into a passionate advocate for the disability community. As the founder and host of Re-Define, a podcast dedicated to unpacking life with a disability, Gabriella explores themes of pride, shame, and identity, while amplifying disabled voices. Please join me in welcoming Gabriella Amaya.
Gabriella Amaya (01:06:24):
Hello, DC. How are we? Oh, my goodness. I'm so honored to be here with all of you, and I want to say thank you for showing up today. Thank you, JP, for that wonderful introduction. My name is Gabriella, and, yes, I live with a rare bone disease called Ollier's disease, and I have been a patient my entire life. Just shy of two weeks ago, I participated in a research study with the National Institute of Health where I had the privilege of meeting doctors and researchers at the top of their field who are undeniably now an integral part of my life. I decided the best way… We can cheers to that. I decided that the best way to express myself today was to write a letter to my younger self.
(01:07:22)
Here it goes. Dear, Gabriella, you should tell them. Tell them what it was really like to have no answers, to have no idea what was happening to your body, to try to find a name for your diagnosis, to have lost your friends to the same disease, and to have even lost parts of yourself along the way. But we don't have enough time to go into detail. You remember the pain, the surgeries, anxiety, and fear. How could you forget? It's still ongoing. All the nights that you held onto your body, desperately wondering if this pain would pass, to realize that uncertainty and pain were at the core of your condition. You remember what your mother did for you. You remember all the doctors that she spoke to, the insurances that denied her over and over again because this… Boo.
Dr. Haley Chatelaine (01:08:33):
Boo.
Gabriella Amaya (01:08:38):
This was not medically necessary. You would not be here without advocates. You would not be here without that one doctor, that one researcher, that one scan, and that one friend. The thing about living with a rare disease is that we are constantly holding on to the hope and the promise of something, because it's all we truly have. We do not have protocols, guidelines, or confidence in our outcomes or the future. Yet we are often told to accept this as our destiny. But that is not the case for the doctors and researchers at NIH. They are looking for us, they are listening to us, and they are showing up for us. They're not just giving us hope, but they're helping us to believe in the promise of tomorrow. Because the truth is that we are all in this together. We have been from the very
Gabriella Amaya (01:10:00):
…beginning, and the same way that my community of rare Disease show up for each other. Thank you to my rare disease. Where are you? Not many.
(01:10:12)
As tired as I think I am of people telling me no, I'm not. I'm ready. No is not enough. Cutting funding for scientific research is not the answer. Politics is not more important than our lives. And DEI is not the damn problem. We show up, and we give everything that we have, because we are all still here, and our stories are not one of the past, they're one today. Thank you.
JP (01:11:12):
One more time for Gabriella. Come on y'all.
(01:11:13)
Up next, we have Samantha Jade Duran, she/her, a disabled activist, content creator, adaptive fashion designer, and public speaker dedicated to disability justice, advancing accessibility and healthcare equity.
(01:11:37)
Born with an ultra rare genetic cancer syndrome and bone disease called Maffucci syndrome, Samantha has spent her life navigating a world that was not built with disabled people in mind. This firsthand experience fuels her relentless advocacy for systemic change, whether it's fighting for accessibility, healthcare access, challenging discriminatory policies, or pushing industries to embrace disability equity. Samantha's activism bridges policy, media, and grassroots organizing, ensuring that disabled voices are not just included, but centered in conversations about justice and progress. Please join me in welcoming Samantha.
Samantha Jade Duran (01:13:02):
Hi, D.C. Thank you all for being here and for making sure that our voices are heard.
(01:13:14)
As they said, I have an ultra-rare cancer syndrome and bone disease called Maffucci syndrome. Imagine being born with an ultra-rare disease that fewer than 200 people have had in all of history. It caused you to be born with bone tumors all over your body, and vein tumors in your hands and feet. There is no treatment or cure, and every year, your tumors keep growing and spreading. Not only is the pain excruciating, but having so many tumors astronomically raises your risk of developing all types of cancers, some of which are chemo and radiation-resistant sarcomas. It's not a matter of, if I get cancer, but when. With every new pain and symptom, I have to ask myself, is this finally it? Do I have cancer? And it's a daily terror. Like most rare disease patients, my life is at the mercy of research funding provided by the NIH. There is currently a chemo trial in Europe that not only shrinks Maffucci syndrome tumors, stops them from growing, decreases pain and increases mobility and quality of life, but also prevents the cancer transformation. For the first time in my life, I had hope for a better future, one not dictated by pain, fear, and the inevitable of cancer.
(01:15:14)
But now, with NIH funding halted indefinitely, that hope is slipping away.
(01:15:23)
Boo indeed.
(01:15:24)
And I am not alone. There are 30 million Americans with rare diseases and countless others with common chronic conditions, cancer and illnesses that desperately need continued research. Without NIH funding, life-saving studies don't just slow down, they stop. And when research stops, people suffer and people die. We cannot let that happen.
(01:16:04)
We have seen what's possible when we invest in science. Polio was eradicated. HIV was transformed from a death sentence to manageable and undetectable condition. Cancer treatments are getting better every year. And these breakthroughs didn't happen by accident. They happened because we chose to fund science.
(01:16:43)
So today I am asking you to stand with me. Stand with rare disease patients, and stand with scientists like yourself. Stand with every single person whose life depends on research, including your own because you are not immune to becoming disabled.
(audience) (01:17:08):
Absolutely.
Samantha Jade Duran (01:17:10):
So keep showing up like you are right now. Call your representatives. Don't stop being an unrelenting activist. And demand for funding for the NIH.
(01:17:26)
Hope is not gone. Hope is here. It's in this crowd. It's in our voices and in our fight, and together, we can make sure hope wins. Thank you everyone. I really appreciate you being here, and I really appreciate the science and knowledge you all contribute and provide for our society because our society is founded by science. We can't get anywhere in our lives without science, so keep showing up truly, and thank you.
JP (01:18:40):
There's a little link on our websites where you can answer the question, why I stand for science, and I'm going to read a couple off.
(01:18:48)
Scientific discovery is the people's right. Stop the coup to maintain funding for the strongest biomedical research enterprise worldwide, and in support of my fellow scientists who work for the government and are afraid to march because empathy is a powerful human emotion.
(01:19:19)
Up next, it is my honor to introduce Dr. Itai Yanai, a professor at NYU, New York University, working as a biologist. Itai has made groundbreaking discoveries in evolution, development, and cancer. He's also the co-author of the popular science book, The Society of Genes, and the host of the acclaimed podcast, the Night Science podcast. Please join me in welcoming Itai.
Dr. Itai Yanai (01:19:53):
Hey, everyone. You guys are awesome. I'm getting goosebumps.
(01:19:57)
So, okay. I'm a scientist, and the way I see it, a huge part of my job, the main part of my job, is to make good on this country's investment in science.
(01:20:10)
But today, the reason why we're here is because that investment is under threat. There are powerful forces in this country that are seeking to undermine the trust in science, the trust in scientists. They are ridiculing some research as being frivolous, like studying the wing of a fly. Yeah. They claim that, because scientists sometimes change their minds, that that means that science itself might be not trustworthy.
(audience) (01:20:48):
Boo.
Dr. Itai Yanai (01:20:52):
They fault science for not providing immediate answers. But these are all false claims. They're mischaracterizations of science, and they are dangerous.
(01:21:02)
The truth is that science does not offer immediate answers. Science does not offer absolute certainty. That's not what science is about. Science is an unpredictable process.
(01:21:16)
But, science delivers. Time and time again. What we see is that when we let scientists follow their curiosity, then amazing things happen. Spectacular discoveries, important, crucial innovations emerge. And often, they come from a field that's totally unrelated from where the research started out. I'll give you an example.
(01:21:46)
In my own lab, we set out to study how our ancestors lost their tails, 25 million years ago. Along the way, we found insight into a devastating birth defect that was totally unpredictable.
(01:22:02)
What about CRISPR? It's an amazing genetic engineering tool. And yet, who would've thought that the way you discover it is by studying bacteria and their immunity? And that wing of a fly that some naysayers ridicule? Well, when studying the wing of a fly, we found crucial insights into cell proliferations and the basis for how cancer starts. And that's the magic of basic science. You never know what's going to never happen… I'm sorry. What's going to happen, you never know. And what about the fact that scientists sometimes change their minds? Is that a weakness? Are we waffling on the issues?
(01:22:48)
No. When we scientists change our minds, that's a strength. That means we're influenced by data, right? We're not like that joke about a person that says, "Don't confuse me with the data. I've already made up my mind." Our true scientists would never say that. What true scientists do is they follow the data wherever it leads. And this is what it looks like when you're confronting the unknown.
(01:23:22)
And so, even though science is unpredictable, even though science does not follow a straight linear process, one thing is certain, and that is that science is an investment that pays enormous dividends.
(01:23:43)
Do you think that it's a coincidence that the US has the best science, and also, the US has the best economy? It's no coincidence. Think about artificial intelligence, AI. Only five years ago, people were mocking AI as a dead end. Look at it today. It's flourishing. It's hard to conceive of a future without AI. And what about the US with AI? The US is leading the research in AI. Is that a coincidence? No. It's sustained investment in research in letting scientists pursue their curiosity.
(01:24:23)
If we stop investing in science, we will fall behind. And that's why we must defend science. That's why we're here. We must challenge these misunderstandings about science when we hear them. We must remind people that investment in science is crucial for our health, for our economy, and for our future.
(01:24:52)
So, if this government is really business-minded, then science is an investment that you cannot refuse. Thank you very much.
Francis (01:25:03):
So once again, I've asked for the opportunity to introduce the next speaker. We are fortunate to have with us here, in this beautiful afternoon, a senator who's been an astronaut, and who, until about two months ago, was in fact the administrator of NASA. So please welcome, the remarkable senator, Bill Nelson.
Bill Nelson (01:25:49):
Thank you, Francis.
(01:25:58)
Everybody, NASA is a research and development organization. It would not exist without the science that we do. A lot of people don't realize that on the International Space Station right now, there are medical experiments going on, some of whom have had breakthroughs with such things like stem cells, such things like protein crystal growth on a whole list of dread disease.
(01:26:38)
I had the privilege, when I flew in space 39 years ago, of conducting the first protein crystal growth experiment, as what zero-G does in allowing you to unlock the secrets of the proteins. That's one example. Give you another example.
(01:27:04)
We're concerned that we don't want to be the same fate that the dinosaurs had when an asteroid, six miles in diameter, came in and hit the Earth about the Yucatan Peninsula and destroyed all the dinosaurs. We're actually using science and physics as we, first of all, scan the heavens with our telescopes, to find a killer asteroid, and we did an experiment called DART, where we actually, 7 million miles from Earth, we hit the bullseye at 14,000 miles an hour and we moved its trajectory.
(01:27:58)
Final example, and I could give you so many, final example. We are not only a space agency, an aeronautical agency, we are a climate agency. So we've got a couple of dozen spacecraft up there that are constantly looking at the Earth, giving us measurements that we've never seen before of what's happening to our planet. I can tell you, when you go into space and you look back at this beautiful Earth, you come away with a sense of awe that you want to be a better steward of what we have been given.
(01:28:49)
And so the final thing I leave you with is, as I orbited the Earth every 90 minutes, I look back through my eyes as an elected official, and I did not see racial division, I did not see religious division, and I did not see political division. What I saw is we are all in this together as citizens of planet Earth. Thank you.
JP (01:29:48):
Can we get a round of applause for DJ Sid over there?
(01:29:54)
Up next, we have Dr. Ticora Jones, who's the Chief Science Officer for NRDC, the Natural Resources Defense Counsel.
(01:30:04)
The NRDC works to safeguard the Earth, its people, plants, and animals, and the natural systems in which all life depends. As Chief Science Officer, Dr. Jones works with the science office to provide strategic leadership that shapes NRDC's advocacy, and enhances the scientific integrity and reputation of NRDC's work. Prior to her role at NRDC, she served as Agency Chief Scientist for USAID and spent many years as the managing director for research. Please join me in welcoming, Dr. Ticora Jones.
Dr. Ticora Jones (01:30:59):
I mean, maybe I don't give a damn about my reputation, but I do love this DJ.
(01:31:08)
Good afternoon, everyone. Oh, no, no, no. Anyone who has actually been in a place with me knows that you need to talk to me. Good afternoon.
(audience) (01:31:16):
Good afternoon.
Dr. Ticora Jones (01:31:20):
Good job.
(01:31:21)
It is my privilege to join you all today. I want to thank you so much for taking your time. Some of you may be here because you don't have any place else to be because people were wrong and rude. But many of you have taken the time to be here because you care about the fact that science is being dismantled and destroyed across the US.
(01:31:48)
But I want to talk to you for a second, not just about what's happening in the US. I want to talk to you about how it's affecting science and scientists overseas.
(01:31:57)
So you heard in my introduction that I was at USAID. Let's give some love to USAID.
(01:32:11)
In my nearly 15 years there, I was so privileged to do so much that I didn't know was possible. I started my science career at the tender age of 10. How many of you got chemistry sets and microscopes when you were 10? And really was just out exploring nature. But what made me a global scientist was starting graduate school the first week.
(01:32:38)
Well, the first week of graduate school, September 11th happened. And what it made me do was think more broadly about how I could be of service, how I could support scientists, and what it meant for me to show up for more than just something interesting and something curious. When I was a kid, Mr. Wizard was who I saw on TV as a scientist. Don't do math. I know, I look like I'm still 29. You're welcome.
(audience) (01:33:10):
You look good.
Dr. Ticora Jones (01:33:11):
But what happened for me in graduate school is I knew I wanted to be part of a global conversation. I wanted to understand how we, as scientists, can show up as global citizens. And I had the privilege to do that at USAID.
(01:33:36)
The kinds of programs that I was privileged to partner and help build were things that supported researchers all the way around the world. They were about how you could offer the same kinds of opportunities to do research and be innovative to kids in Kampala that you could for kids in Kansas City. And with the destruction of that agency, a lot of that is going away. It's not just going away in human form. It's going away in what isn't happening anymore.
(01:34:07)
For those of you who may have grown up on farms, it takes a while to grow new crops. And if people are looking at new drought-tolerant or resistant things, you've got to spend some time making that work. Those crops are being left fallow in the field because the research programs that were funding that kind of innovation have stopped. So when we're talking about destroying government research, it's not just the American kind, it's the global kind. And I know you all are used to hearing about it in the context of global pandemics because how many of you all were in graduate school during COVID-19? I don't know if you should cheer about that. I want to celebrate your resilience for getting through that. You should give yourselves a hand. And so the world that we live in is made less safe because we are not partners in it anymore, or we're taking away from those partnerships. I encourage all of us to think deeply about how we continue to partner. I think when Atul Gawande was up here, one of the other many amazing speakers you all have had, it is encouraging you all to think deeply about how you talk to everyone around you, how you explain the things you do so that the kindergartners in your lives can understand them. And I know that's like the outreach thing and our professors are like, no, don't do that. But some of how we got here is a communications crisis, because we were too willing to only talk to ourselves and not to everyone else.
(01:35:55)
So the thing that I need all of you to do is to make sure you are having those conversations about why your work is important, with every single person in your life. Whether it's your kindergartner or your grandma, you need to be able to do that.
(01:36:16)
So though I left USAID two years ago and I spent time with my colleagues who were laid off and were evicted from their building that's just over there last week, the work that I do now as the Chief Science Officer for NRDC is about the kinds of work that is important to protect our planet. Why are we protecting our planet? Because we live here, damn it. And it's not just us that lives here. It's the plants that live here and the animals that live here. But to your point, no science, no wildlife. We love all of the things that we can look at and make us feel emotion. But why would we protect the planet except to protect the spaces and places that we live?
(01:37:07)
We must be more holistic in how we operate. Climate change isn't just about greenhouse gases, it's about air quality and extreme heat and public health. These are all things that NRDC cares about. So as I end my time, I encourage you all to remember to talk to each other and everyone else that is here, as you make community with one another and stand up for one another. Do that in a way that is sustainable, because we've got a long fight ahead of us. Thank you.
Francis (01:38:05):
Once again, I'm taking the privilege of introducing somebody who's been very special, in my experience, at the NIH as the director for 12 years, and before that, at the Genome Project, a wonderful former congressman from the state of Michigan, who was the main author, along with his colleague, Diana DeGette, of the 21st Century Cures Bill, which many people considered the most significant legislation of this millennium when it came to supporting medical research.
(01:38:36)
Whoa. Never mind.
(01:38:37)
So please welcome, Congressman Fred Upton.
Congressman Fred Upton (01:38:48):
You know, it was some 40 years ago that I worked at the White House at the Office of Management Budget, and I learned a lesson there that it was the budget that drove the policy and not the policy driving the budget, and I thought that was wrong. So I ran for office. And I won. I was elected and re-elected for 36 years in the House, and bipartisanship was my guiding light, whether I served in the majority or the minority. And in the '90s, Speaker Gingrich tapped me to be the Republican lead to double the money for the NIH. My partner was John McCain, and Henry Waxman and Paul Wellstone as Democrats in the House and the Senate, and we won. We got it done.
(01:39:57)
Today, there's about 10,000 different diseases and we have cures for, so far, a few. We've all got family members and know so many others with serious life-threatening diseases that impact our families and communities. And it breaks our hearts to see that suffering. Diana DeGette, a Democrat from Denver, and I teamed up on a three-year mission. Together, we held countless roundtables around the country, many, many congressional hearings, to figure out together if we can expedite the approvals of drugs and devices because, you see, the research and the jobs was going overseas and we said, we got to change that. So we introduced H.R.6, the 21st Century Cures Act, which in fact expedited the approval of drugs and devices, and it included $45 billion more in health research for the NIH and the FDA. You bet it was bipartisan. And not only did we have the rank-and-file members on both sides of the aisle, but we had the grassroots across the country. We relied on the leadership on both sides to get it done. Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan, Steve Scalise, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Mitch McConnell, Lamar Alexander, and of course, Vice President Joe Biden and President Obama. It was the last bill that he signed into law, for, you see, diseases don't impact just Republicans or Democrats. It impacts all of us.
(01:41:54)
But one of the problems that we truly addressed was that we Americans were losing our edge to the researchers overseas, that somehow, they were getting more resources to find faster cures, competing with us and winning, whether it be China or the other sides of the Atlantic. So we included the Cancer Moonshot, the Brain Initiative, and real incentives for particularly younger researchers to stay and find a place in the NIH and the FDA. After all, we ought to be the gold standard for the rest of the world and create a golden age for biomedical and groundbreaking research. No question about it.
(01:42:41)
I'll end on this. Dr. Katrina Armstrong, the CEO and Dean of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, summed it this way. "Look in your medicine cabinet. Do you see a medication for treating a chronic illness or preventing disease? Chances are, you can thank the NIH for that." But she's not done. "Think about someone who has survived cancer. If not for the NIH, that person might not be with us. Or consider the future of a friend or family member with Alzheimer's disease, a heart condition or mental illness. Where will we find the treatments to alleviate their sufferings? The answer almost certainly involves the NIH."
(01:43:46)
My friends, I thank you. Thank you for your hard work and courage to do the right thing by choosing this career. We cannot afford to let you go and lose the opportunity for cures that impact all of us across the Earth.
(01:44:11)
Francis said a little while ago, yes, we are the envy of the world. First, do no harm. I want to add, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. God bless you all.
JP (01:44:30):
Okay. All right, y'all, we got one more speaker for this block before we get into some music.
JP (01:45:00):
I heard some NIH chants over there. Can we get that going again?
Crowd (01:45:03):
NIH, NIH, NIH, NIH, NIH, NIH.
JP (01:45:03):
All y'all, it is my pleasure to introduce Senator Christopher Van Holland, currently the senior US Senator for Maryland, a seat he has held since 2017, a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as a US representative for Maryland's eighth congressional district from 2003 to 2017, and as a Maryland state senator from 1995 to 2003, please join me in welcoming Senator Van Holland.
MUSIC (01:45:55):
And I could already taste the pain.
(01:45:55)
The sudden fear that grips and shakes you when you face the truth.
Christopher Van Holland (01:45:57):
Are we all here to defend science? Because we know that when you defend science, you are defending the health and welfare of the American people. Isn't that right? Now, I am just thrilled to be here with so many mad scientists. And you should be mad and you should be angry. And everybody in America should be mad and angry about what we are witnessing right now in our country, including the illegal and reckless attacks on science by Elon Musk and the Trump administration. Because those illegal attacks are literally putting people's lives at risk around the country. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:47:00):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:47:02):
Are we going to shut down the illegal Musk operation?
Crowd (01:47:05):
Yes.
Christopher Van Holland (01:47:08):
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with government efficiency. If you care about government efficiency and we all do, you don't start by firing all of the inspector generals in the United States government, do you? Because when you do that, you're firing the independent watchdogs whose job it is to look out for waste, fraud, and abuse. So when you fire the IGs as your first step, what you're doing is opening the door to waste, fraud, and abuse. And that abuse is what we are seeing right now. Because Elon Musk and his Doge cronies are not trying to make the government more efficient. What they are doing is slashing important services that benefit all Americans and trying to rig the government to do the bidding of people like Elon Musk. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:48:14):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:48:16):
And we are seeing that of course, in these attacks on science and starting with the attacks on the National Institutes of Health. It is not efficient to freeze clinical trials that are in progress to try to find cures and treatments to cancer or Alzheimer's. Is that efficient?
Crowd (01:48:39):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:48:40):
No. What that is putting people's lives at risk. It's not efficient to deny universities and institutions around the country the ability to buy equipment and other supports to do life-saving research. Is that efficient?
Crowd (01:48:56):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:48:58):
No. This is going to end up hurting millions of Americans around the country. Now, fortunately, a federal judge has put a halt on some of these illegal activities. Thank you to the judge, and I want to read from her opinion when she made that decision, she said there was "an imminent risk of halting life-saving clinical trials, disrupting the development of innovative medical research and treatment and shuttering of research facilities without regard for current patient care." Are we going to let that stand?
Crowd (01:49:45):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:49:45):
And I'm glad that judge issued that opinion and we need to make sure that we continue to fight this in the courts, in Congress, and in communities around the country. Are we going to do that?
Crowd (01:49:56):
Yes.
Christopher Van Holland (01:49:59):
I want to look at FDA. We've seen illegal firings at the Food and Drug Administration. These of course are the people that help make sure that the food we eat is safe. These are the people who make sure that the medicines that we take are safe and do what they say they will do. When you fire the people whose job it is to do that, you make Americans less safe. People will be hurt when you fire the people who are looking out for the American people when it comes to drugs and other kind of research. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:50:38):
Np.
Christopher Van Holland (01:50:40):
Now look at NOAA. Anybody hear from NOAA? Everybody know what NOAA does? So NOAA does a lot of things, but one of the things folks at NOAA do at the National Weather Service is that they're eyes and ears when it comes to extreme weather events. So when you close your eyes and plug your ears, Americans will be put at risk. They will die. If you don't know an extreme weather event is coming your way, you don't have the time to take shelter. If you don't know an extreme weather event is coming your way, you can't take other measures to protect your property or your loved ones. And so knocking out the NOAA is going to have that impact. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:51:37):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:51:39):
And of course there's the National Science Foundation where… And Fred Optin was talking about this. I mean, they do cutting-edge work and they reach out to others who are providing cutting-edge research to make sure that the United States of America remains the leader in innovation. When you fire everybody at the National Science Foundation or lots of people, you put America's competitive edge at risk. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:52:10):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:52:11):
Now here's the thing. A judge, another federal judge intervened to say those are illegal firings at the National Science Foundation. And because of that, at least for now, those employees have had to be brought back and there are other judges that are standing up for the rule of law around the country, but we shouldn't have to rely on judges alone. We need to make sure that Congress does its job. And to do that, we need the votes to get it done, which is why what's happening here is so important and happening at other places around the country is so important because every member of Congress needs to recognize that they have an obligation to stand up for science, to stand up for their constituents even when they're getting tweets against them from Elon Musk and others.
(01:53:12)
And so please call everybody you know no matter where they live in the United States of America and ask them to show up at rallies and town halls and demand that they be heard. Because what's happening right now is a lot of members of Congress are running away from those town halls, but running away from those town halls is not going to make all of us and the American people go away because we are witnessing a great betrayal.
(01:53:46)
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump said he was going to focus on reducing prices and costs, but once in office he began to Project 2025. Are we going to let that happen?
Crowd (01:53:59):
No.
Christopher Van Holland (01:54:00):
So I believe at the end of the day, I believe at the end of the day, just like we were able to defeat the efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act many years ago, and thank all of you who rallied to save the Affordable Care Act. Just like we did that, it was close, it ended up being one vote in the United States Senate, and I want you to keep that in mind as we rally around the country and fight this illegal Musk operation. That it requires all of us to knock on doors and make the phone calls and make your voices heard. Thank all of you for being here today to do just that, to protect our country, to save our constitution, and to defend science. Thank you all.
MUSIC (01:54:43):
Out here in the fields.
(01:54:55)
I fight for my meals.
(01:54:55)
I get my back into my living.
(01:54:55)
I don't need to fight.
(01:54:55)
To prove I'm right.
Venessia Rajko (01:55:13):
Hi everyone. Thank you so much for coming out here. I'm Venessia Rajko. I'm a student at University of Virginia studying behavioral neuroscience in the Department of Psychology. I am one of the coordinators for the DC side. I wanted to shout out to all of the international students who really wanted to come here, who shared our message but couldn't be here today. Thank you. International students enrich our community and give so much to our science. I also want everyone here to know that we have a lot of international support. We have people that rallied. We have thousands of people that rallied in France, people that rallied in Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Canada. I just want the world and I want all of Congress to know that the international community is highly supportive of our cause right now, I have a statement from the Biomedical Institute of Sevilla, and so here is a message from Alicia Elena Rosales. "As we say here in Spain, every time we have to stand up for research and against budget cuts, there is no future without science."
(01:56:40)
The US has always been a beacon for scientific research. Scientists around the world stand with United States students and researchers. I also have one more statement from a psychology student in Poland at [inaudible 01:57:00]… Sorry, Polish is really hard to pronounce. [inaudible 01:57:05] University. Okay, I don't think she's going to be mad at me for that. She wants everyone to know that research is a universal force of collective knowledge, which accelerates progress of society and individuals. These decisions to reduce the budget cannot be made suddenly. Such actions contradict common sense and diminish the ideology of science as an achievement to all people regardless of profession and nationality. Thank you so much and thanks for being here.
JP (01:57:47):
All right, y'all be ready for some music? Little break from all the speeches. It is my pleasure to introduce one of my best friends from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is a local act. If you want to follow him, it is at Johnny.Sunrise on Instagram. Please do. Please join me in welcoming Johnny Sunrise.
MUSIC (01:58:08):
[inaudible 01:58:27].
Johnny Sunrise (01:58:38):
What's up everybody? Give it up for JP. One more time. I'm super stoked to be here. I think one thing I just wanted to point out is that this is the flagship rally for stand up for science. Make some noise for yourself for being here. I want to see some high-fives. These are your friends. These are your allies. Meet people. I'm just going to play a few songs for you. Yeah, let's do it. Everybody [inaudible 01:59:21].
(01:59:06)
This first song is called Goodbye.
MUSIC (01:59:06):
He's a cool man.
(01:59:06)
Messing with you all of the time.
(01:59:06)
Break the rules man.
(01:59:06)
He's hiding out what you'll never find.
(01:59:06)
He's inside of mind.
(01:59:06)
He will confuse you.
(01:59:06)
Make sure [inaudible 02:00:12] what's right.
(01:59:06)
He'll never lose you.
(01:59:06)
[inaudible 02:00:21].
(01:59:06)
You're a fool man, thinking that you got what it takes.
(01:59:06)
It's no use, man.
(01:59:06)
He's living [inaudible 02:01:05].
(01:59:06)
Good luck.
(01:59:06)
Good luck.
(01:59:06)
Good luck to you.
Johnny Sunrise (02:02:03):
I mean, when you get a chance to do it. This is super dope. Give it up for JP. Give it up for all the organizers. I never thought I'd be opening for Bill Nye. He called me on the phone and he said, "Johnny, we need you." He said, "Please, please. I didn't realize." I didn't realize you and JP were friends. This is all true.
(02:02:31)
This next song is about moving from New England to North Carolina with someone you love and not a lot of money and the cockroach is pretty big.
MUSIC (02:02:53):
Well, now insurance does a whole lot of nothing.
(02:02:53)
[inaudible 02:03:20].
(02:02:53)
There's more clothes in the attic then bills in my pocket.
(02:02:53)
[inaudible 02:03:27].
(02:02:53)
Well, my drones [inaudible 02:03:40].
(02:02:53)
I hope that you can see that without the words [inaudible 02:04:52].
(02:02:53)
All our dreams come true.
(02:02:53)
Well, my insurance covers a whole lot of nothing.
(02:02:53)
And your car is my car too.
(02:02:53)
There's more mugs in the attic than bills in my pocket.
(02:02:53)
[inaudible 02:05:16].
Johnny Sunrise (02:02:53):
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can take the guitar. It's a little [inaudible 02:05:48]. I've got one more song for you. Thank you so much. I'm Johnny Sunrise. Keep the energy going. Come on. Where are the high-fives? Give some high-fives.
MUSIC (02:02:53):
And I know the wind has changed.
(02:02:53)
Cloudy view on a Sunday [inaudible 02:06:43].
(02:02:53)
Still we roll with our [inaudible 02:06:51] in the ground.
(02:02:53)
[inaudible 02:06:59] back around again.
Johnny Sunrise (02:02:53):
Going for a PhD in clinical psychology, you can't lose an hour a day.
MUSIC (02:02:53):
[inaudible 02:08:13].
(02:02:53)
Just like you, just like you.
(02:02:53)
Over grown, must be three feet off the ground.
(02:02:53)
I hope [inaudible 02:08:43].
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
[inaudible 02:09:24].
Johnny Sunrise (02:02:53):
Can I do the last 30 seconds? Okay.
MUSIC (02:02:53):
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
(02:02:53)
I hope that you still want me.
Johnny Sunrise (02:02:53):
Thank you all so much. I've been Johnny Sunrise. Give it up for yourselves. Let's stand up for science. DC [inaudible 02:11:16].
MUSIC (02:02:53):
[inaudible 02:11:29].
JP (02:11:29):
All right, one more time for Johnny Sunrise. I'm so excited to get this one going, so we can start here. Ready? Bill Nye the Science Guy. I do not think you need to hold my [inaudible 02:11:29] but I'll do it anyways. Renowned science communicator, television presenter, mechanical engineer. I have nothing else. I think we all know who he is. Please join me in welcoming Bill Nye.
MUSIC (02:12:28):
Bill Nye the Science Guy.
(02:12:28)
Bill Nye the Science Guy.
(02:12:28)
Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill.
(02:12:28)
Bill Nye the Science Guy.
(02:12:28)
Science rules.
Bill Nye (02:13:00):
Hello Washington. It is so good to see you all. Greetings, greetings. Greetings. Thanks for joining us today. We are gathered to insist that our lawmakers stand up for science. The framers of the US Constitution made sure to include Article I, section eight, clause eight, "Congress is to promote the progress of science and useful arts." Useful arts would be an 18th century expression for what nowadays we would call engineering. Using science to solve problems that make things. These constitutional ideas have helped make this country great, a world leader in innovation as well as in the rule of law. The process of science, along with our hard-won scientific body of knowledge, enabled us to feed and care for the world's billions, build great cities, cure diseases, create global transportation, communication systems, and even know our place among the stars.
(02:13:45)
My friend, science is part of the American story. If the United States is to lead the world, science cannot be suppressed. And so today, my friends, we demand that scientists not be censored. That there be legal safeguards to prevent political interference in their research, and that they begin to able to communicate their findings freely. Furthermore, we demand that all of us, the public, have access to scientific information. All the data reports and resources that were available before this president swore to uphold the US Constitution in January this year. This is our right. We paid for this science with our tax dollars. As we stand here today, certain elements of our own government have suppressed references to climate change, have advocated against life-saving vaccines, and have ordered an automatic review of papers for the purpose of censorship. Papers that include certain words like female.
(02:15:52)
Over there, my friends is the US Capitol. To the other side. To the other side. The side restricting access to scientific reports, scientific data and resources. We ask, what are you afraid of? What is it about the progress of science, modern medicine, caring for our neighbors or woman's history month that you all find so scary?
(02:16:23)
My friends, science is in the national interest. Censoring science is not. I encourage those on the other side to bring ranks, become leaders, to uphold this oppression of science. The founders embraced the idea that by promoting science and engineering, our citizens would be free to do research and to innovate, which would in turn stimulate the economy. Help us compete in the world stage and keep us safe, ultimately improving the lives of all of us. Every citizen, every citizen, each of us wants a better future for ourselves and for our families. Together we can, and we must stand up for science. Let's change the world.
JP (02:17:52):
We can keep the Bill chants going. We got another Bill next.
Crowd (02:17:52):
Bill, Bill, Bill.
JP (02:18:09):
It's my pleasure to introduce Congressman Bill Foster, a scientist and businessman representing the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, a position he's held since 2013. He also represented the 14th Congressional District of Illinois from 2008 to 2011. He's the only PhD physicist in Congress and he continues to be a champion for sustained federal funding for scientific research. Please join me in welcoming Representative Bill Foster.
Bill Foster (02:18:48):
Thank you all for that very kind introduction. I sometimes introduce myself as saying that I represent 100% of the strategic reserve of physicists in the United States Congress. Over 25 years before getting into this business, I worked at the Fermi National Excellency Laboratory. We were smashing protons and antiprotons together to make [inaudible 02:19:12]. I was the team that discovered the [inaudible 02:19:12] along with a hundred scientists from universities and laboratories from around the world. One of the reasons that you do science is not just to win the next war and not to win the next industrial competition, but part of the reason to do science is that you may make a discovery that will be in the science textbooks forever. And that is the dream of every scientist, and that's one of the reasons that's being crushed when this administration sends out emails, says, okay, summarize your work in five bullets, we will send it into some AI.
(02:19:51)
That's a nightmare that has been in science fiction for a long
Bill Foster (02:20:00):
… but unfortunately we have someone who has the ear of the White House that seems to think that he wants to be that guy who owns the robot factory that judges everyone. And that's one of the more destructive things that's happening here. During the last Trump administration, I was the chair of the science committee, oversight investigations of the committee. And the first hearing we had was surveying the damage that had been done by the first Trump administration to the science enterprise. And it was very sad, but it was not as bad as the currently because they weren't organized yet. They are unfortunately organized now and the damage is greater.
(02:20:40)
And I don't want to lie to you and tell you if things are necessarily going to be okay because they may not. But what I can do is tell you that you have many members of Congress, including a lot of Republicans who are keeping their heads down, who really believe in science. And our jobs here is to give, well, our job here, [inaudible 02:21:20]. Frankly, if all Republicans were like him, the world would be a better place. But there are others. And our jobs are to give them, well, if not the stiffness of spine, at least the viscosity of spine in order to actually stand up for what they know is right, because they do. And those of you who have friends in Republican districts, tell them to contact their congressman at a meeting in their own office, in their own state, and let them know that there are people that are their constituents that really give a rat's ass about science.
(02:21:45)
So you can see I kind of bring all the charisma of the usual physicist in this job. Excuse me, "rizz". Rizz. I'm trying. I really am. But I just want to let you know that your voices are being heard. And when you're speaking the truth, your voice has a natural fire to it and that you're not always aware of. Because when I sat through most of the state of union speech, I gave myself a quota of five objective falsehoods before I could leave. And I hung around until we hit about 25. And then I said, okay, "That's it. I'm out of here." But watching members who I do respect on the other side standing up and applauding for things that they knew are false is the thing that just, it really gets me. And I was thinking about why is it that scientists care so deeply about that?
(02:23:08)
I think it's because if you're a scientist and you stand up and say something and know is not true, it is a career-ending thing. You'll lose your tenure position. No one will ever publish your papers and your career's over. And so why do we take the truth so seriously? And I think it's because we operate on the edge of what is known. And so we cannot tolerate the additional uncertainty of whether the person who's presenting the data is actually lying. That's why personally I find it hard to take and personally why I enjoy the fire in your eyes. Thank you.
JP (02:24:39):
Let's get those signs up. Come on, what we got? Bill Nye taught you better? Yes, he did. What else we got? Come and take them. Girls just want to have funding. Keep your hands off our pipettes. No science, no wildlife. It's awesome y'all. I'm excited to announce our next speaker, Dr. Mike Mann. Mike is an American climatologist and geophysicist. He's a presidential distinguished professor of earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Mike Mann.
Michael Mann (02:25:26):
Thank you very much. I didn't choose that song, but I embrace it. Let me just say that. Let me also say I've always dreaded having to speak after my friend Bill Nye, but that is one of my great fears that is realized today. Good afternoon everybody. It is so wonderful to see you all out here today to stand up for science. My name is Michael Mann, and let me you, I'm going to use the C word. I'm a climate scientist. Thank you. Thank you. I'm also an educator and a science communicator. Thanks. I've known adversity, having been targeted by fossil fuel interest groups, attacked by right-wing news sites, news outlets, and singled out by climate change-denying politicians. Yes, unfortunately, and it's even worse today, all in an effort to discredit my research demonstrating the profound threat of human-caused climate change. But this is the most challenging moment I can recall for science itself.
(02:26:44)
To gratuitously quote the title of my forthcoming book with vaccine scientist Peter Hotez, who some of you may know, science is under siege. We've heard it here today already. The banning of federally funded research in my own field of climate science, the normalization of anti-science in our government agencies and institutions, the NIH, NSF, EPA, these are among the most chilling developments. Now, I teach at Benjamin Franklin's University, the University of Pennsylvania. Okay, well, I'm no Ben Franklin and I'm not speaking for the university, but I do often ask myself what would Ben do? Franklin was a statesman, a diplomat, a public intellectual, an inventor, a scientist, and in fact, a climate scientist.
(02:27:44)
And I'm not kidding. Despite the famous kite and thunderstorm story we've all heard, he did not actually invent electricity. Sorry. He didn't. That goes back to at least the fifth century BCE. But he did produce the first known depiction of the Gulf Stream. Climate science. And he was an environmental activist. He designed cleaner burning stoves and he brought a lawsuit against a tannery that was dumping hazardous chemicals into the Delaware River. He was of course also a revolutionary who helped lead a rebellion against, this might sound familiar, a ruthless autocrat. A rebellion against a ruthless autocrat, an actual king, not a self-declared one.
(02:28:40)
Franklin once said that to safeguard democracy, that people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness. And I am feeling that oneness here today. I'm absolutely feeling it here today where we are indeed gathered to safeguard science, democracy, and our planet. Thank you. Franklin famously warned that we will have a republic only as long as we can keep it. Well, we still have a republic, so let's do all we can to keep it. All we can to keep it. Let me, while I still have some time to talk about another key figure in our nation's history. President Abraham Lincoln, who we honor him here today by speaking at his memorial. Lincoln was a Republican.
(02:29:47)
In fact, he was the very first Republican president. And he oversee the creation of the National Academy of Sciences, an independent non-governmental organization for providing independent, objective evidence advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Yes, that was Abraham Lincoln. First Republican president. I was honored to be elected to the Academy in 2020. It's the voice of our scientific community as regards matters of policy relevant science at a time when the underlying science of both vaccinations and climate change are under assault here in Washington, DC. The Academy remains a voice of reason and clarity, having recently published a report warning of the existential threat posed by anti-science misinformation and disinformation.
(02:30:42)
Lest you come to the conclusion that pro-science Republicans like Lincoln are a relatively distant past, let me point out that two of the biggest heroes in my own personal story were both Republicans. When the famous hockey stick graph my co-authors and I published came under attack more than two decades ago by fossil fuel industry funded Texas Congressman Joe Barton, the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, referred to in his own district as Smokey Joe Barton for his pro-villager policies. Yeah, you can still boo Joe Barton. He hasn't been in Congress for a number of years, but among the first politicians to come to our defense were actually two Republicans. Republican House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Bullard, who became a dear friend of mine and passed away some years ago. And Arizona Republican Senator John McCain. Now both of these Republican politicians called out Barton in the strongest terms, basically accusing him of engaging in modern-day McCarthyism. Now we heard earlier from another hero of mine, former Congressman Fred Upton, also a Republican. In fact, he would later chair the same committee that Joe Barton had chaired, the Energy and Commerce Committee. But unlike Barton, he was actually the recipient of the 2019 Champion of Science Award. I was here for Fred Upton.
(02:32:18)
So in conclusion, and this is a theme, I didn't expect it to be a recurring theme, but it is a recurring theme here this afternoon. Let's do all we can to bridge the partisan divide. Not all will be willing to cross, we know that. But I truly believe that we can bring over enough to create a critical mass in support of science and science-based discourse. Yes, I absolutely believe it. The stakes could be greater. They are no less than the future of our country and indeed our civilization. Thank you so much, folks.
Speaker 4 (02:33:02):
I am back again to introduce yet another speaker in this amazing lineup of people with all kinds of important perspectives, all here to stand up for science like you are doing. And it's not just because there's no place to sit, you really want to stand up for science. It's my great privilege to introduce a heroic figure that I've admired for some time who's here from Boston. He has a very challenging personal story to tell you of a family history that afflicted multiple members with Alzheimer's disease. Himself a journalist, he has now begun to have symptoms of that same illness. A lot of people would go and hide somewhere, not Greg O'Brien. Instead, he wants to tell the world about this and about how important research is for people like him and all those that will come after. So please put your hands together and scream a big welcome to Greg O'Brien.
Greg O'Brien (02:34:43):
He is a little taller than me, so I have to bring it down. I have to read this. Trust me, you don't want me winging it. It wouldn't be good for you. As you know, I have Alzheimer's and I just have to stay focused. Ernest Hemingway, in his brilliant work, A Farewell To Arms, wrote, "The world breaks everyone. And afterwards, some are strong in the broken places." And so I pray for all of you today to be strong in the broken places. And that's why we're here. With drastic cuts on the table for critical medical research for Alzheimer's, other forms of dementia, cancer, and other horrific diseases, innocent lives will be lost. Few would argue for the need to cut government wings. But cuts must be thoughtful, not the meat cleaver approach that we have before us.
(02:35:48)
As a journalist, I have no party affiliation. I'm not a Democrat or Republican. I'm in the middle. My focus is building a strong constituency, for unilateral support, for medical research and care for the millions upon millions who are suffering today. I am deeply concerned about the future. It's simple math. I learned at a young age from the Sisters of Charity in an Irish school outside Manhattan that one plus one is two. But if you subtract two, you have zero. And that's not right. And that's where I fear we're headed. It shouldn't be that way. It just shouldn't. Good research and science are not dirty words.
(02:36:35)
I wish my mother could hear this. I lost my maternal grandfather, my mother, my maternal uncle to Alzheimer's. And before my father's death, he too died of dementia. One of 10 kids, I was at both my parent's deathbed on Cape Cod, the family caregiver. That image burns inside me. Several years ago, Alzheimer's came for me. I also have prostate cancer. I'm going breakdown on my body, given that brain signals are not connecting properly. I also deal with serious internal hemorrhaging at times and a degree of numbness from my neck to my feet. I feel a little like Gumby. A little louder.
(02:37:26)
Alzheimer's with some can be a 20-year journey. The experts say it's like having a sliver of your brain shaved every day. That's why more research is needed to slay the demons of this disease. Today I have little short-term memory. A close friend of mine calls it CRS. Translated in Gaelic, "Can't remember shit." Thus, my MacBook Pro laptop is my best friend. It's my brain. I write everything down before I forget. As with others on this serpentine journey, I deal with disconnections every day, with hallucinations, deep depression, all-out confusion, a loss of self and place. It's not pleasant. And again, that's why we need more research.
(02:38:33)
But I keep moving forward, not retreating. I want to write to encourage others. God is good and he cares for me. Footprints in the sand. I'm wholly imperfect as a person. But I see my relationship with the Lord as a combination of the agonizing lurch in the Adam's family and Telly Savalas, the lollipop Kojak, who [inaudible 02:39:02]. That's all right, thank you. But the point about all this is without adequate funding for medical research, without a strong commitment to this, we lose our soul as a nation. I would like to believe that both Republicans and Democrats would not want to go there. This is not a liberal or conservative cause. It's a fight for life issue.
(02:39:23)
I'm almost done, but you'll like this part. So in my journey, I turned to the iconic film Animal House, to the late John Belushi, AKA, Bluto Blutarsky, and his epic speech rallying the defeated fraternity brothers facing school expulsion. " Over? Did you say over?" Bluto gulps down. "Nothing is over until we say it is." And so folks, it isn't over until we say it is over. Keep rallying, keep the faith. Be strong in the broken places. God bless you and thanks for listening.
JP (02:40:32):
What did that sign say? This nerd stands for science. It is my pleasure to introduce Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who represents Virginia's 10 congressional districts. A lawyer who has worked in the private sector with several tech startups and started his own business, he previously served as a White House technology policy advisor to President Barack Obama. In the Virginia House of Delegates from 2019 to 2023 and the Virginia State Senate from 2023 to 2024, Suhas passed landmark legislation to lower the cost of tolls, utility bills, and prescription drugs. And lastly, he also co-founded a caucus dedicated to bipartisanship and passed bipartisan bills to improve K-12 education, lower taxes and address gun safety. Please join me in welcoming Suhas.
Suhas Subramanyam (02:42:01):
How are we doing today? Yeah. I'm Congressman Suhas Subramanyam. I live like 30 minutes from here in Northern Virginia. Any Virginians in the house? Yeah, Virginia. I'm here because there's an attack right now happening on science here and we have to fight back. Are you ready to fight back with me? Yeah. I stand with science and when I got elected to Congress, I told them, "Put me on the science committee because I want to do bipartisan work." But what I'm seeing right now is there's a lot of people letting these cuts to science, technology, innovation happening, and we have to stop it today. We have to stop it because it'll do irreversible damage to our country and to so many people. Science is not just about maps, it's about so much more. It's about saving lives. Science is about making sure we can build a strong economy. And science is about making sure that we have a prosperous future for every single American, including our kids. We have to save science, we have to stand up for science today. Now, they're making these cuts in the name of government efficiency and getting rid of release fraud and abuse. If that's your goal, then science should be the last thing that you cut. The absolute last thing that you should cut. A dollar invested in science gives us $10 back, $20 back because it's the best investment you can make in our people and in our country. And it's what makes our country great.
(02:43:27)
Science is what makes our country great. And so we have to fight this, but I'll tell you, they're cutting. They tried to fire the people that keep our nukes safe. They tried to fire the people that keep the ball under control. They're trying to fire scientists, innovators, all across every single agency. They don't know what they're doing and they don't know the cost of what they're doing. We have to stop it.
(02:43:59)
But I know that you know that. But we need to let the people who are not here today know that too. And so that means we need to make sure we call every single person who's not here today, every single legislator on both sides of the aisle, and let them know that we will not stand up for this. Are you with me in that fight? Now, let's get to work today. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you.
JP (02:44:53):
Quick shout out to the sign that says, "Fund science like your life depends on it, because it does." Oh, I know you. Oh my gosh. Hey, what's up? It's my pleasure to introduce Connor Phillips, a research fellow at the NIH. There he studied treatments for children with cerebral palsy and broader questions about how learning happens in the brain. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at ASU, Arizona State University, where he developed robotic assistive therapies for children with cerebral palsy. Please join me in welcoming Connor Phillips.
Connor Phillips (02:45:32):
Thank you all being here today. As you heard, my name is Connor Phillips and I'm a proud member of UAW 2750, a fellow student at the National Institute of Health. As you've heard today, the health of Americans is tied to our investment in biomedical research. When science thrives, we all thrive. And I'm living proof of that. You may not see it at first glance, but I have cerebral palsy. My mother went into labor more than three months early, and the treatments that helped ensure my survival were made possible by NIH-funded research just four years before I was born. Without that science, I might not be able to walk. I might not be alive at all. My very existence is a testament to the power of NIH research and the lives it transforms.
(02:46:42)
That's why I chose to dedicate my life to science. Yeah. At the NIH, I've worked to develop new therapies to improve the lives of other children with cerebral palsy. Now I'm advancing our understanding of the brain. I hope to give back to the institution that gave me my health. But because of so-called efficiency cuts imposed by the Trump administration, I'm forced to stop this critical work, even as an unpaid volunteer. It begs the question, how does stopping ongoing research make our government more efficient? How can these cuts be driven by fiscal responsibility when scientists are prevented from working for free?
(02:47:40)
These cuts to NIH funding aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. They're life-threatening. They mean people with cancer go untreated. They mean those with Alzheimer's will continue into cognitive decline. They mean families suffer. These cuts are means to steal from the health of Americans to provide tax breaks for the rich. We cannot accept this. We must stand together for the health of our nation. To those listening across the country, I challenge you to stand up for science. Call your representatives and demand they protect NIH, the foremost biomedical research institution in the entire world. This is a fight for lives. Lives like mine, like yours, like those we love. And when we fight, we win. When we fight?
Audience members (02:48:29):
We win.
Connor Phillips (02:48:29):
When we fight?
Audience members (02:48:29):
We win.
Connor Phillips (02:48:29):
When we fight?
Audience members (02:48:29):
We win.
Connor Phillips (02:48:29):
Thank you.
JP (02:48:29):
All right. Why are people standing for science? To fund our research and fund our futures. If we don't fight for science, who will? And lastly, this person is standing up for science because they lost their mom to a cancer 10 ago that now has had a successful clinical trial that can cure it. We need science. This next speaker, I'm delighted to introduce Dr. Nate Brought, who is the former director of the NIH Executive Secretariat. He recently spoke out against the current attacks on science, standing up for the NIH's mission and against orders that ran contrary to years of NIH research and findings about sexuality and gender. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Nate Brought.
Nate Brought (02:50:11):
I'm a little taller than JP. First, let me thank all of you for being here to support this worthy cause. Second. Second, allow me to thank the organizers for standing up for science, for allowing me the opportunity to speak. Contrary to what JP just said, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist. I'm not a researcher, but I appreciate them allowing me to speak anyway. I certainly do not feel worthy to share the stage with luminaries like Francis Collins and Bill Nye, the science guy. My name is Nate Brought, and last Friday I resigned my position with NIH by a resignation letter I submitted to Matt Memoli posted on LinkedIn and which was published in the Washington Post yesterday.
(02:51:38)
My career started on a pair of yellow footprints on Paris Island in July of 2001. That journey took me to three separate continents. During my career, I found myself in Iraq tracking and eliminating terrorist targets. I found myself at four feet in Maryland battling the proliferation of nuclear weapons and tracing terrorist financing. I found myself with the dubious honor of interrupting a meeting to inform Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Boston Marathon bombing. I found myself improving Homeland Security's relationship with Congress by reforming our congressional reports process. I found myself donating a kidney to my best friend's brother two days after my best friend died of cancer. But my friend lived long enough to make that happen because NIH funded research and treatments extended his life by three years from what the doctors initially thought it would be.
(02:53:04)
I found myself shocked by the kids in cages scandal during Trump's first administration, and crushed by the realization that I had contributed to the review and clearance of that policy. I found myself working on letters to families to explain why their staff benefits were being drastically cut, and why their school lunch programs were being scaled back, while struggling with the fact that I personally benefited from those programs as a child. Over the course of my career, I had four amazing children, one of whom is here with me today. I earned two degrees, and finally in August of 2023, I realized my career long dream when I took my position as a director of the executive secretary at NIH.
(02:54:11)
I found myself finally in a position to demonstrate the effectiveness of modern management practices, unlike what we're seeing in our federal government today. However, my dream was short-lived following the inauguration of Trump on January 20th, and I soon found myself sacrificing everything that I had worked for so that I could keep my oath of office. And it will be tempting for many to assume that I'm merely bitter after a long election season where my preferred candidate lost.
Speaker 5 (02:55:00):
But I can assure you that's not the case. In 24 years of federal service, I spent four years working for the president that I voted for. I never agreed with everything that I had to do, but I never had an issue doing what needed to be done to follow the laws passed by Congress and implement the priorities of whomever the current president was. But that's not what I encountered in January and February of this year. What I instead encountered was a lawless administration dead set on usurping the power of the other branches of government, of finding new and creative ways to disobey court orders.
Audience (02:55:48):
Boo!
Speaker 5 (02:56:07):
Towards the end of my time with NIH, I sat at meetings where I repeatedly challenged leadership on the illegal actions of this administration. Though we agreed that we were not in compliance with lawful court orders as the Constitution would demand, we did nothing in our official capacities to keep our oaths of office and demand our leaders follow the guiding principles that this country was founded on, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the equal protection for all Americans under the law.
(02:56:41)
Instead, we actively implemented unscientific and unconstitutional executive orders at the expense of our trans and intersex colleagues and fellow citizens. Instead, we held tight, hoping that any day now, the administration would allow us to begin respecting the law again. Instead, we followed an acting director, who I have reason to believe was not legally appointed to that task. Instead, we denigrated our reputation and our legacy worldwide by following a pseudoscience, snake oil salesman who's been installed as the head of HHS.
Audience (02:57:41):
Boo!
Speaker 5 (02:57:50):
And we suffered all of these harms because President Trump does not have the integrity as a leader to admit he made the decisions that his base resented during COVID. He refuses to admit that he scapegoats NIH for merely advising him and having no authority to issue orders our own. Those were his decisions.
(02:58:28)
Contrary to what Fox News would have you believe, Tony Fauci is not a criminal mastermind who spent five years… Five decades. Sorry. Five decades, saving millions of lives around the world so that he could fool people into wearing masks. The fact that President Trump has repeatedly put Dr. Fauci's life in danger to avoid acknowledging his own accountability is a tragedy and a national embarrassment.
(02:59:16)
The future of science in America faces unique challenges and nearly insurmountable obstacles to recover from so much damage in such a short time. We've done irreparable harm to our universities and research institutions here at home. We've done obscene amounts of damage to our international partnerships. We need to figure out how to stop this administration from dismantling our country's scientific community and selling it all to the lowest bidders at big pharma companies owned by their allies so that we ensure science continues to advance for everyone.
(03:00:04)
We need to figure out how to re-establish our place at the forefront of scientific research so that we do not spend decades lagging behind adversarial nations who continue to advance and invest in the future. And unbelievably, the unique challenges facing the future of science in this country are not my leading cause for concern or the main reason why I'm here today.
(03:00:50)
As serious as those concerns are, they're offset by one very simple reality. The future of scientific research in America will be inconsequential if we fail to secure the future of democracy and the rule of law in America first. Thank you.
MUSIC (03:01:11):
No, not I, I will survive.
(03:01:11)
As long as I know how to love,
(03:01:11)
I know I'll stay alive.
(03:01:11)
I've got all my life to live,
(03:01:11)
And I've got all my love to give.
(03:01:11)
And I will survive.
JP (03:01:43):
All right. How we doing? Let's shake it out. Shake it out. Come on. All right.
(03:01:43)
Up next, we have Dr. Patrick Sullivan, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. He's the co-director of the Prevention Sciences Core at Emory Center for AIDS Research, CFAR, and he has worked in HIV prevention for 26 years. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Patrick Sullivan.
MUSIC (03:02:05):
Out here in the fields.
(03:02:05)
I fight for my meals.
(03:02:05)
I get my back into my living.
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:02:22):
Thank you for standing up for science. We probably all have our own reasons and parts of our own life stories that lead us to be here today, making our stand for science. And what I'm passionate about is work to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world. Work to promote the health and well-being of people living with HIV and working to train and make opportunities for the next generation of scientists. So, I was asked today to give a little insight into what science and public support for science has done in our global response to the HIV epidemic. And for me, this is a really personal issue. I moved to start college in Atlanta in 1984. And the HIV epidemic was in full swing in Atlanta. It was a scary time for our community. It was a tragic time for people living with HIV and their caregivers as they were visibly affected. There was no effective treatment and there was pervasive stigma towards people living with HIV.
(03:03:45)
So, when we think about ending HIV epidemic, it takes an all-of-science approach. We need clinicians. We need epidemiologists. We need laboratorians. We need social scientists.
Audience (03:03:57):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:03:58):
Go social scientists!
Audience (03:03:58):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:04:06):
So, what I'd like to do is tell you some of the things that this research community has accomplished, and if you hear something that you want to thank scientists for, I want to hear back. All right? In the four decades we've been working, we've developed tests for HIV, which are sensitive to allow people to test themselves for HIV and to view results in only a couple of minutes. HIV testing!
Audience (03:04:25):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:04:35):
The scientific community has developed treatments for HIV. People living with HIV can have an expectation of a normal life expectancy. And just recently, has been the introduction of monthly injections for HIV treatment.
Audience (03:04:51):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:04:55):
And I should say that it is unconscionable that people who were benefiting from these life-saving treatments, supported through PEPFAR, are being deprived of them. It's unacceptable and it needs to change.
Audience (03:05:05):
Boo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:05:11):
Prevention. We have preventive medications that are 99% effective at keeping people protected from HIV. And we now have monthly injections that prevent HIV infection in those who are not living with HIV.
Audience (03:05:24):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:05:30):
And we're still on the pathway in search of a vaccine for HIV. And we must not give up on this effort. This is part of a local effort, and it has to be sustained to foresee the end of the HIV epidemic in the world. So, support for our colleagues working on HIV vaccine research.
Audience (03:05:44):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:05:56):
I said today that HIV prevention work is a team endeavor. And so, I want to thank all our federal partners, whether they are scientists, laboratorians, funders, administrators, grant administrators who make it possible for us to do this work. Thank you to our federal partners.
Audience (03:06:14):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:06:14):
The United States has a bold vision for ending the HIV epidemic, and we are on the path to do that. But interrupting any of these streams of science for testing, for treatment, for prevention, for vaccine, threatens our progress towards that shared goal. So, as we wrap up today, I want to hear from you about your support for our federal scientists and colleagues who make this effort possible. For the NIH!
Audience (03:06:46):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:06:46):
For the CDC!
Audience (03:06:46):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:06:47):
And for training the next generation of public health scientists to do this work!
Audience (03:07:01):
Woo!
Dr. Patrick Sullivan (03:07:01):
Thank you for standing up for science!
MUSIC (03:07:01):
I don't need to fight.
(03:07:01)
To prove I'm right.
(03:07:01)
I don't need to be forgiven.
JP (03:07:24):
I like that sign right there. "Science is like magic but real." That's like a Disney movie. All right.
(03:07:25)
Up next, we have Dr. Bonnie Swenor, the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center and endowed professor of disability, health and justice. Drawing from her experiences as a person with a disability, she aims to shift the paradigm from living with a disability to thriving with a disability. Dr. Swenor's research applies evidence-based strategies to dismantle the barriers that disabled people face, including in STEM. Her work has impacted policies at state, federal, and international levels, and she played a critical role in national advocacy that led to the NIH's designation of people with disabilities as a health disparity population. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Bonnie Swenor.
MUSIC (03:08:09):
U-N-I-T-Y.
(03:08:09)
U-N-I-T-Y. That's unity.
(03:08:09)
U-N-I-T- Y. Who you calling?
(03:08:30)
U-N-I-T-Y. [inaudible 03:08:41].
Audience (03:08:30):
Bonnie!
Dr. Bonnie Swenor (03:08:30):
All right. Thank you.
Audience (03:08:30):
Bonnie!
Dr. Bonnie Swenor (03:08:48):
Well, thank you. Good afternoon. I am so honored for the opportunity to speak with you all today, and that was great roll-out music. So, thank you to the DJ.
(03:08:55)
So, I'm Bonnie Swenor, and as my introduction suggested, I have spent the majority of my career trying to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive in STEM. As a person with a disability, I know firsthand the barriers that exist. But I also know the power of science to take them down.
(03:09:36)
Federally funded research is an essential part of that equation and has shaped the arc of my life. When I was a teenager, federally funded research was essential for saving my life when I had a rare infection that was resistant to antibiotics. Federally funded research, again, was essential for the care I received when I had complications after the birth of my son. And federally funded research helped slow the vision loss that I experience after being diagnosed with a degenerative retinal condition.
(03:10:28)
And now, today as a person with low vision, technology and accessibility advances that were driven by federally funded research allowed me to do the things that I love, including being a scientist. Because of the research that has been supported by federal funds, I haven't just been able to live but to thrive. And certainly, the trajectory and that path has not been easy. And there's always room for improvements.
(03:11:11)
For the more than 70 million Americans in the United States, we experience obstacles every day. They're all around us. And it is not about our abilities. Those barriers come from environments that aren't designed to include us and mindsets that think we can't. But science is essential to changing all of that. And when I was in the early part of my career, as a scientist with a disability, I faced immense barriers and I felt alone and I felt like I didn't belong and I wanted to give up.
Audience (03:12:00):
[inaudible 03:12:04].
Dr. Bonnie Swenor (03:12:03):
Thank you. We all do. So, I did the only thing that I knew how to do, which was research. And so, my colleagues and I were among the first to publish data showing the woefully under-representation of scientists with disabilities receiving federal funds. And to my surprise, those data led to real change, changes in policies, changes in programs, and changes in opportunities, which now, unfortunately, are all under threat.
Audience (03:12:43):
Boo!
Dr. Bonnie Swenor (03:12:53):
But I can only do that work because I had freedom to investigate those questions, scientific freedom and the opportunity to access data. Without those two things, those things which are not luxuries, we can't uphold scientific integrity, and we can't drive social progress.
(03:13:21)
So, today, we are all here to fight back and to remind the world that science isn't something that just happens in laboratories and in scientific journals. Science is all around us. It is woven into the fabric of our lives, and it is essential to get us to a better future.
(03:13:46)
But it's clear, we have to unite and fight. And we have to do that not just today, but every day. And as the late, great disability activist, Judy Heumann once said, "Change never comes at the pace we want. It only comes after years and people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers that they can."
(03:14:33)
And it's clear it's time that we have to do that, too. So, thank you all for being here at Stand Up For Science. I know this is only the beginning. And a huge thanks to the organizers who have made this happen.
JP (03:14:50):
All right. I got some shoutouts real fast, some group shoutouts. Where are the UVA people at? UMB? Drexel University? Yeah, over there somewhere. Gallaudet University? Okay, got a couple over here. When the co-lead organizers first started this, we had no idea that this would be the support that we'd see. And we know that this is happening all around the world. And this next speaker is actually one of the co-lead organizers. Please join me in welcoming Colette Delawalla.
MUSIC (03:15:53):
Get up, stand up.
(03:15:53)
Stand up for your right.
(03:15:53)
Get up, stand up.
(03:15:53)
Stand up for your rights.
Colette Delawalla (03:16:20):
Oh, my God. I can't believe you came out to Washington DC today. Thank you so much!
(03:16:20)
So, the first thing I want to say is a huge, huge, huge thank you to the hundreds of volunteers across the United States who really, I mean, stood up for their values and stood up for science and organized an incredible movement in less than 30 days. We got to give them a round of applause. Moreover, I would be remiss if I did not very explicitly call out our incredible D.C. Team. So, Stephen, Patrick, Bethany, Mike, Venizia, Anna, John, Rachel, our team here in D.C. has been incredible. And you guys would not be here today without them. Please give them a big round of applause. That's you guys!
(03:17:00)
And finally, to our core leadership team, you guys, Sam, Emma, JP, and Leslie, who's watching livestream from L.A., you guys are unbelievable. You are brilliant scientists and activists, and you wear a million hats so gracefully. You are the best representation of humanity that this world has to offer. And it is a privilege to know you and to get to be a small, tiny part of your incredible stories. And I am forever indebted to you for your support and for coming together alongside and for 'I'm doing this thing'. This is incredible. And so, if we can please again them a round of applause.
Audience (03:17:51):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:17:51):
And all you faculty out there, I want you to remember their names and I want you to hire them and pay them really, really well.
Audience (03:17:51):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:18:12):
So, in Dayton, Ohio, there is a very small, two-story museum called the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. And I remember having field trips at this museum as a kid, being fully engrossed by the planetarium and the water table, the indoor animal conservatory. And I don't know if I can point to a specific scientific fact that I learned during those visits, but the thing that stuck with me was that I remember having a blast at the Boonshoft. And it filled me with wonder as a kid.
(03:18:47)
So, since the beginning of the movement, people have been asking us in all of our DMs and bombarding us, "Who are you? Who are organizers?" And that's a really reasonable question. I get it. I would be asking the same. And so, I just wanted to give a little picture into my story, which I think resonates with a lot of you. I'm a mother and a grad student and a wife and a therapist. And I grew up in rural Ohio.
(03:19:19)
And the messaging to me was that a degree was a piece of paper that you got that meant that fewer people could tell you what to do. And being a scientist was not one of the options that I had. In fact, the only female scientist that I remember seeing as a kid was my sixth-grade science teacher in a field trip… I know! She was wonderful. She was so special. In a field trip every year to the Boonshoft, Bill Nye, the science guy. And the yearly science fairs were my core exposure to science growing up. And I loved it.
(03:19:59)
And now, I'm an addiction scientist. And I study compulsive substance use, which is the worst flavor of addiction that a person can experience. And I do this by translating what we have found in pre-clinical models, such as in mice and non-human primates, to be applied in humans. And it's a really hard problem to solve. And one that thanks to the support of the NIH, we inch closer and closer to solving every year.
Audience (03:20:35):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:20:35):
Yeah, thank you, NIH. Thank you, NIH, for coming. And I say all of that to say that I study and am trained to help bring about big behavior change in people, which I think that's part of why you're all here today. And so, the big question that we've really been reckoning with is, "How the hell do we fix this mess?"
(03:20:59)
And I sat at a table with a Nobel Laureate last night, and I didn't have the answer to this question. And I think that's notable. It's a really hard problem to solve. But I have a hypothesis. I think that the antidote to distrust of science and this skepticism and the antidote to fascism are the same. And that's igniting wonder in people again.
Audience (03:21:25):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:21:25):
Right? And so, you may be saying, "Colette, that's cute. But we're in a constitutional crisis, and so please be serious."
Audience (03:21:38):
No!
Colette Delawalla (03:21:38):
Yes! Thank you. Igniting wonder in a child now can mean that the next timely breakthrough in cancer treatments, climate change or astrophysics comes a few years down the line.
Audience (03:21:43):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:21:43):
That's right. And igniting wonder in an adult now can mean that they dream of a better future for themselves and their families, and they act in ways that move them closer to that future.
Audience (03:21:43):
Woo!
Colette Delawalla (03:22:09):
That's correct. And so, as a scientist, I have the privilege of waking up every morning, filled the wonder I felt at the Boonshoft Museum as I study addiction. And that's what this resistance needs. And so, I encourage you to ask yourself, "How can we infuse the wonder and fun and joy back into science for everyday people?" And I think that's the key to this movement. Thank you so much.
MUSIC (03:22:39):
Get up, stand up.
(03:22:39)
Stand up for your right.
(03:22:39)
Get up, stand up.
(03:22:39)
Don't give up the fight.
(03:22:39)
Preacher man, don't tell me-
JP (03:22:48):
Yeah, she mentioned to give us jobs. I'm looking for rare disease researchers, actually. Would be nice.
(03:22:52)
I'm excited to introduce this next speaker, Dr. Allison Agwu, a professor of adult and pediatric infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She's an active member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Adolescent and Adult Anti-Retroviral Treatment Guidelines, and the immediate past chair of the HIV Medicine Association board of directors. Her overarching research goal is to decipher, address and minimize disparities in treatment and outcomes for those living with HIV. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Agwu.
MUSIC (03:23:23):
(singing)
Dr. Allison Agwu (03:23:58):
Good afternoon. Good afternoon, DC. Good afternoon, America. Good afternoon, the world. The revolution will be televised.
(03:23:59)
As a pediatric and adult infectious diseases clinician and scientist, I care for patients across the life spectrum in a city with long-standing health inequities and societal inequities. But I stand before you today to highlight several privileges that I have been honored to have experienced during my career.
(03:24:32)
Starting medical school in 1995, I had the privilege of experiencing babies no longer dying from pneumococcal infections because we have vaccines to decrease that risk. I have had the privilege of seeing the remarkable advances in HIV treatment care and research, including the evolution of one-third of babies born to mothers living with HIV, dying from HIV, to now, when a child is born with HIV in this country, it is a rare event.
(03:25:04)
Previously, children born with HIV routinely died before adolescence. And now, I care for a cohort of young people age 30 and above, who are born with HIV in their living their full lives.
(03:25:29)
These successes have been primarily fueled by federally funded research, investing in the most innovative and impactful science. The process involves scrutiny and oversight with only a tiny fraction of research applications being awarded. The grants, including those indirect costs, pay for the science, the administrative expenses, and the facilities from the janitorial services to the likes. All of it. Already, major federally funded grants awards and ongoing projects have been shuttered, domestically and internationally, with disastrous consequences.
Audience (03:26:19):
Boo!
Dr. Allison Agwu (03:26:22):
We must restore and expand scientific funding to continue progress. We just must. We must maintain the workforce. We must fight the arbitrary 15% indirect costs that will hogtie our institutions.
(03:26:45)
These successes have been fueled by translating research into clinical care, which in the case of HIV, would not have been feasible without the federally funded Ryan White Program and the expansion of insurance, Medicaid and the ACA. Proposed cuts to these funding streams will dismantle the infrastructure, decimate the workforce, and halt progress. This will lead to less viral control. This will lead to more infections, and this lead will lead to more deaths. We must maintain and expand the funding and ensure access for all.
(03:27:21)
Importantly, these guiding successes have been fueled by guidelines developed by federal agencies through convening the brightest experts, many of whom are here using reliable, complete, and transparent data. Transparent data.
(03:27:50)
These data and guidelines should not be tampered with or hidden because they highlight inconvenient truths for unimportant populations. In science, the data is the data. Feelings are not facts. Feelings are not facts.
(03:28:01)
We must fight government censorship of data guidelines and inconvenient truths. Last and definitely not least, if I, a Caribbean-American female scientist and full professor at one of the top research institutions in the world, did not stand here and highlight the importance of inclusion, diversity, access and equity. Equity! I would be remiss.
(03:29:16)
Science is a beautiful art built on a canvas of data. The best science comes from diverse ideas, from diverse people with diverse perspectives, spurring innovation and progress. There must be pathways to ensure diverse perspectives have a seat at the proverbial table. We, collectively, reject that inclusion, diversity, equity, and access are bad words. In fact, programs
Speaker 6 (03:30:00):
… programs championing these ideals should be celebrated and expanded as that is how we get the best science and the best outcomes. So, DC, America, say it with me. We must challenge.
Audience (03:30:21):
We must challenge.
Speaker 6 (03:30:22):
We must stand up for truth.
Audience (03:30:22):
We must stand up for truth.
Speaker 6 (03:30:22):
We must stand up for inclusion.
Audience (03:30:25):
We must stand up for inclusion.
Speaker 6 (03:30:25):
And we must stand up for science.
Audience (03:30:30):
And we must stand up for science.
Speaker 6 (03:30:32):
Thank you.
MUSIC (03:30:33):
[inaudible 03:30:36].
JP (03:30:36):
Amazing. Amazing. Real quick, I really need to shout out at my UNC folks that are here. Yep. Yep. Yep. All right, real quick, I'm a first-generation college student-scientist of color, and I love mentoring the next generation of scientists. And this next speaker was a mentee of mine in a pipeline program. Her name is Sarah Aleman. She's a postbacc research fellow at the NIEHS. She's also a first-generation college student who earned her BA in molecular biology with a minor in chemistry from the McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. While I college, she uncovered a love for research through opportunities at McDaniel as well as through the NSF's research experiences for undergraduate studies, the NSF REUs.
(03:31:43)
Please join me in congratulating her because she's going to veterinary school in the fall where she hopes to pursue a better understanding of our relationship with animals and the ethnics, cultures and policies that inform these relationships. Please join me in welcoming Sarah Aleman.
MUSIC (03:32:03):
[inaudible 03:32:06].
Sarah Aleman (03:32:46):
Are we awake? Are we still awake? Waddup, DC? Waddup? [foreign language 03:32:28]. Yeah. I need you guys to show out for this. Thank you all for coming out and showing your solidarity with science. I don't know about y'all, but I am tired of living through unprecedented times.
(03:32:47)
My name is Sarah Aleman, and I am a postbacc fellow and part of the UAW 2750. NIH is strong and united. Are my UAW people awake? Yeah. Like JP said, I graduated college back in 2023. I'm a first-generation college student. Just four years before I got my degree, I never would have imagined I would be where I am today. Unlike many of my scientific peers, I never had real exposure to graduate-level academia. My parents weren't Ph.D.s. They weren't MDs. They were not highly educated nor wealthy. They are immigrants. Without initiatives like diversity, equity, and inclusion, I would not be standing here today on this stage in my current position or on the precipice of attending my dream med school.
(03:33:58)
My first real exposure to the research world came in the form of my amazing college mentors, Dr. Susan Parrish and Caitlin Pozmanter. Shout out to them. As first-gen college students themselves, they understood my struggles throughout college. When imposter syndrome reared its ugly head, they were a shoulder for me to cry on. They saw my potential as a young and curious student and allowed me to explore the biological fields in an uplifting, safe environment.
(03:34:48)
This is what DEI is meant to do. Diversity is so much more than just the color of your skin. DEI is about bringing people together from different cultures, religions, races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and working toward a better future collectively. It is no secret that there is a rising mistrust in science, and a lack of diversity in biomedical research is part of the problem. There has been a critical and systemic failure of communication between the scientific community and the American public. Historically, the scientific community has not done enough to engage everyday people, people without higher-ed degrees, people in rural communities and people from minoritized communities as well.
(03:35:51)
The American public, who funds biomedical research through their taxes, have a right to know the scientific process even if they aren't going to be in science. By excluding these diverse communities, we create a mistrust in science. Doing away with DEI will only allow this problem to persist.
(03:36:24)
Scientists, you must not only do excellent science, but you also must be excellent communicators. We have not gone to this impasse overnight, and I'm willing to challenge everyone here today from the research community. I would like to challenge you to care, to care beyond your research, care beyond your jobs. And it can't be on just today. Don't let this momentum die. We have to get out from under our benchtop and engage people with the incredible work that we all do.
(03:37:03)
I would like to end by saying that diversity of life experience promotes diversity of thought, and this fosters the new ideas that ultimately lead us toward discovery and progress. We do this country and, ultimately, the world a great disservice by purging DEI initiatives. Despite the actions of this administration, I am firm in my belief that diversity is essential to all places of work and education. Thank you all for coming out. [foreign language 03:37:52].
MUSIC (03:37:45):
[inaudible 03:38:02].
JP (03:38:16):
All right. I got a little request when I was sitting over there. A little shout out to Johns Hopkins postdocs in malaria vaccine researchers. They're everywhere, I guess. Speaking of Johns Hopkins, up next, we have Andrew Eneim, a student in the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Please join me in welcoming Andrew.
MUSIC (03:38:54):
I'm a shootin' star, leapin' through the sky.
(03:38:54)
Like a tiger defyin' the laws of gravity.
(03:38:54)
I'm a racin' car passin' by.
(03:38:54)
Like Lady Godiva, I'm gonna go, go, go.
(03:38:54)
There's no stoppin' me.
(03:39:13)
I'm burnin' through the sky.
(03:39:13)
Yeah, two hundred degrees.
(03:39:13)
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit.
(03:39:13)
I'm traveling at the speed of light.
(03:39:13)
I wanna make a supersonic man outta you.
(03:39:14)
Don't stop me now.
(03:39:14)
Don't stop me now.
(03:39:14)
Don't stop me now.
(03:39:14)
I'm havin' such a good time.
Andrew Eneim (03:39:22):
That was close. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Andrew. I'm a Ph.D. candidate, and I'm a proud member of UE Local 197. And I've learned a lot in my training journey. My entire adult life has been spent under a cloud of doubt that I would ever actually be able to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a scientist.
(03:39:50)
I watched as tens of thousands of people mobilized against the first Trump administration and the attempts to attack immigrants to cut funding for science and roll back social programs that have supported Americans for decades. Sounds familiar. I marched for science in 2017 and, for a moment, I believe that maybe we start to address that mistrust of science that has been accelerating for at least a decade. Then we were confronted by the reality of that mistrust as millions needlessly died from COVID-19 amidst record vaccine hesitancy and skepticism for public health guidance, and then a hostile administration came and went, but the mistrust persisted.
(03:40:46)
How did we get here? Unfortunately, for too long, scientists have claimed that science could be purely apolitical, that scientists can focus on what really matters and not engage with politics at all. But, in reality, it's not true. Science is and always always has been political. Science is political when institutions we work for do not train medical doctors on how to recognize a rash on dark skin. Science is political when our work is used to develop weapons. Science is political when we do not challenge the status quo and fail to remember that we do this to make the world a better place. That is why it is time to stand up. It is not enough to wait for a president who will just restore the status quo. Business-as-usual is not good enough. We need to be working within our communities, getting to know our neighbors, engaging with local politics, organizing for change and rebuilding that trust that scientists work for the people, too. We have to stand up, but not just for science. We need to stand up for trans people who will not be erased. We need to stand up for Black and brown people who are being targeted by anti-DEI policies. We need to stand up for immigrants who are being threatened with deportation. We need to stand up for Palestinians who are experiencing a genocide. We have to stand up and fight back not just for some grant funding, but for the future of our communities that are under attack, because if someone hadn't fought for that little Mexican kid who dreamed about becoming a scientist one day, I wouldn't be standing here right now.
(03:43:17)
Thank you. Peace and solidarity.
JP (03:43:37):
All right. We've got a couple more. We've got a couple more. Up next, we've got Dr. Kuppermann, a pediatric emergency medicine clinician and scientist, and an international leader in emergency medical services for children particularly in multicenter research. He was the founding chair of both domestic and global pediatric emergency care research networks. Dr. Kuppermann is also the president of a nonprofit organization that supports a clinic urgent care center in Kathmandu, Nepal, with which he has been affiliated for more than 30 years. Dr. Kuppermann has been recognized nationally and internationally for his research and mentorship with many awards. He was a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in the UK and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
(03:44:23)
Please join me in welcoming, Dr. Kuppermann.
MUSIC (03:44:28):
[inaudible 03:44:30].
Nathan Kuppermann (03:44:36):
So, good afternoon, Washington, DC. I am so happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here again. You don't know how long I've been trying to say those words. My name is Nathan Kuppermann, and I'm a pediatrician, a pediatric emergency physician and a pediatric scientist. I've been caring for acutely ill and injured children for more than 30 years, and conducting federally-funded research to investigate better ways to keep our children healthy. None of what I do daily could happen without our federal government's support.
(03:45:16)
Today, I speak about children's health and pediatric research. The quality of care that we deliver to children in this country and around the globe is directly affected by both the quality and the quality of the research we perform. While children represent only 22% of our country's population, they are 100% of our future. They're our future workforce, leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers and military. We must safeguard their future health as we are just temporarily borrowing this country and this globe from our children. I got the privilege and the good fortune to have been trained and practiced in some of the greatest institutions in this country and have showed that knowledge by working around the globe in places like Nepal, Brazil, Central America, caring for the sickness of children. In the United States, we have received federal support to perform great science that has prevented or treated many of the horrific childhood diseases which I have encountered in low-resource countries. These include vaccine-preventable diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, bacterial meningitis and others.
(03:46:42)
However, now, we are seeing a resurgence of some of these life-threatening conditions here in the United States. As you know, measles has reemerged, and an unvaccinated child died in Texas last week because of it. And, if you read the news, just yesterday, an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico died of measles as well. This should not happen in the United States of America.
(03:47:03)
It is important to consider that we don't just save lives in pediatrics. We save lifetimes. Breakthroughs in pediatric research allow children with chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes to grow and thrive and contribute to the world as adults. However, we need science, research, and resources, including federal grant funding, and administrative support for our universities and academic medical centers, including children's hospitals, to preserve the health of our children and for the United States to continue to lead the world in advances in healthcare.
(03:47:44)
From life-saving vaccines to cutting-edge treatments for childhood cancer and rare diseases, pediatric research transforms the futures of our children and their families. For example, because of years of innovative research, children, adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease can now be treated effectively with gene therapy. Survival from the most common childhood leukemias has also increased more than 30% in the past few decades because of the scientific research that we do. An improvement in our treatment of infectious diseases ranging from COVID-19 to HIV and other complex infections has been nothing short of miraculous and has resulted from the power of scientific research. Children with diseases that were considered death sentences just a few short years ago are now living full, productive lives.
(03:48:47)
Cuts to science funding and cuts to our children's futures as cuts to science cut our children's futures. When we underfund pediatric research, we delay critical discoveries that could cure diseases, ease suffering and improve outcomes for millions of children. What can we say to the child who is suffering from cancer, from a brain injury who could have been cured by cutting-edge research, but wasn't because there was insufficient funds to do the work?
(03:49:22)
It's also important to recognize that children are not simply little adults. They have unique physiological and behavioral differences that require investigation. Dedicated pediatric research ensures that we develop specifically tailored, that is, therapies specifically tailored to growing bodies and to developing brains.
(03:49:45)
And, finally, over the last two Congress, our children and their families are counting on us. Pediatric research is often the only hope for children and their families facing devastating diagnoses. Investment in pediatric research is an investment in the future of the United States. Healthier children become healthier adults, reducing the burden on our healthcare system and strengthening our communities. So, for preparing of our children, science and research is not political. Attacks on science and research jeopardize scientific discovery and put our children's health at risk.
(03:50:26)
I stand for science because science stands for our children. Thank you all for speaking loudly together.
MUSIC (03:50:51):
[inaudible 03:50:52].
JP (03:50:51):
All right, y'all, we got to stick around. We got Rep. Raskin speaking in a little bit. I'm very excited to introduce our next speaker. It's someone I've actually worked with on a social science paper. I'm very excited to introduce Bridget Nelson, a dedicated public health professional researcher and educator with a passion for activism, equity and anti-racism work. They're a white, queer, non-binary and neurodivergent individual and bring a deeply intersectional lens to their work focusing on LGBTQIA+ health disparities, sexual and gender-based violence, neurodivergent health disparities, and disability justice. Please join me in welcoming Bridget Nelson.
MUSIC (03:51:39):
[inaudible 03:51:40].
Bridget Nelson (03:52:06):
What makes someone a scientist? I would argue that it is curiosity, a desire to know the previously unknown, to prove the unproven, to understand the complexities of the world around us and are placed within it. Science is more than research and data. It is a force for progress, a tool for justice and a means to create a world where health and knowledge are accessible to all. As a queer, non-binary public health professional, I feel uniquely qualified when I say diversity, equity and inclusion are not just ideals to strive for. They are essential to the very integrity of public health and science. During the early days of Hitler's regime, the Nazis burned books. These books were primarily from the Institute for Sexualwissenschaft, the Institute for Sexual Science. It was the first sexology research center in the world and pioneered publications on gender and sexuality, offering education to both health professionals and laypeople alike. I shared this story to illustrate how the destruction of science is also an attempt to control identity and define who matters.
(03:53:42)
While many wish to exclude the LGBTQIA+ community from the narrative, from history and research, I argue that science is inherently queer. To me, queer is to question previously-held beliefs, to inquire if rigid social assumptions are true. To be a transgender is to transgress barriers that were never created by you and, instead, to approach your identity with curiosity, to question, test, try, stumble, learn, grow and create in pursuit of your individual truth. Is this not what scientists do every day?
(03:54:36)
Without diverse voices in our work, we risk blind spots. Without equity, we fail to reach those most in need. Without inclusion, we leave behind the very communities our work is meant to serve. When we center the voices and experiences of those who have been overlooked, we don't just make science more just. We make it stronger.
(03:55:06)
We are at a turning point. The systems that have upheld inequality are being exposed. We can choose to ignore it, to accept the status quo or we can do what scientists and public health professionals have always done. We can ask questions. We can seek answers. And we can refuse to look away. This is not easy work. It requires resilience, persistence and a belief that change is possible.
(03:55:42)
But we have seen throughout history that progress is not made by those who accept the world as it is, but by those who insist on a better future. We are those people. We are the questioners, the challengers, the seekers of truth. And we'll not be silenced because curiosity is more powerful than fear, because knowledge is more enduring than ignorance, because the fight for justice, for equity, for inclusion, for a world where health belongs to everyone is one we cannot afford to lose. United, we are strong. Together, we fight for curiosity to prevail. Thank you.
MUSIC (03:56:57):
[inaudible 03:56:58].
JP (03:57:05):
Alrighty, up next we have Denali Kincaid, a science communicator and a current graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in volcanic geochemistry at Penn State University. They obtained their undergraduate degree from the University of Florida before working as a lab tech at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, and they now research the evolution of plagioclase ultraphyric basalts in Iceland as part of their Ph.D.
(03:57:24)
Please join me in welcoming Denali Kincaid.
MUSIC (03:57:27):
[inaudible 03:57:35].
Denali Kincaid (03:57:54):
Hello, everyone. I am a geologist. I am many other things. Yes, I am many of the things, but, today, that is all I am. We are all here because we believe in the same thing. We believe in the power of science. But I must confess, if I only get one chance to say one thing in front of a crowd this big, the people I want to speak to most are probably not here. I want to speak to the people who don't believe in the value of science, who don't trust science, who see what is happening and say, "Why should I care when I have mouths to feed and my own work to do?" And what I want to say is this. Please remember that we as scientists are here to serve you, the public. We work for you. We exist for you. And we fight for you through our research and through our work.
(03:59:05)
Today, I speak for earth scientists when I say, yes, we are looking for ways to help communities like the kind I grew up in to have access to clean, safe water. Our scientists at NOAA are trying to provide your farmers, fishermen, transporters with your cargo with the tools to do their jobs safely and effectively. We are trying to protect you from natural disasters like floods and hurricanes, and even volcanic eruptions.
(03:59:55)
See, what many people don't know about my field is that the United States has over 150 potentially active volcanic systems and that they are currently trying to shut down the facilities that monitor those very same volcanic systems as we speak. When they cut our funding, they are not just cutting the funding of a scientist. They are not just cutting the funding of some big resource organization. No, when they cut your sciences funding, they are stealing from you, the American public. They are stealing services and knowledge and inspiration that you have a right to and that you'll not get if funding of the sciences is left to the whim of private investments.
(04:01:06)
The attack being launched on science is costing genuinely gifted scientists their jobs. It is costing my friends their jobs, and it could do the same thing to me in the future, so I am not going to pretend that that plays no role in my appearance here before you today. But greater than that role is the reason why we all became scientists in the first place, and that is to fight, to give all of you, the public, a better future so that you can focus on your own work and your own families.
(04:01:55)
So, as nothing but a geologist, I ask you, my fellow Americans, demand better for us and yourselves. Demand that they let us serve you. We are here for you, and we are here to work, so please let us work.
MUSIC (04:02:18):
[inaudible 04:02:34].
JP (04:02:41):
All right, y'all, up next we have Dr. Victor Ambros who studied poliovirus genome structure and replication and genetic pathways controlling developmental timing in the nematode C. Elegans. Dr. Ambros was the co-recipient along with Gary Ruvkun of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Ambros is the Silverman Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.
(04:03:10)
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Victor Ambros.
Victor Ambros (04:03:26):
I had a prepared a speech, but everybody before me has said everything that needs to be said better than I ever would. Many of these speeches we've heard today are incredibly personal and really moving and really inspiring, and I've learned a lot in these hours listening to them.
(04:03:44)
If I could summarize, I'd say I'm borrowing a phrase, but it's "science brings hope to the human condition". And science is what America does best. You've heard that from [inaudible 04:04:00] today. And, arguably science, is the best thing that America does. But it's under attack now and there is an immediate crisis. There are people losing jobs and have lost jobs. There's a brain drain that's actually happening now.
(04:04:20)
My colleagues in Europe are posting lists of graduate programs in Europe that will take American students without a master's. And other colleagues are reporting that they're advising young students who dream of getting a Ph.D. to look to Canada and Europe. And China, of course, is recruiting back to China, away from their adopted homeland, people or scientists of Chinese origins. So all this means there's urgent need for us to do something.
(04:04:56)
And what can we do.? Over the last few few days, I
Victor Ambros (04:05:00):
I sent myself to school, I said, "I'm going to meet with staff members of… members of Congress", never done that before, and actually, had the opportunity to meet with a senator. And what I learned was, that these people hunger for one-on-one meetings with you, with constituents who could come to Washington or go to town halls and meet with them one-on-one and tell your story. They really hunger for it.
(04:05:28)
This surprised me a lot. Right? Because they say they get phone calls up the wazoo, they get letters and everything, and all that just goes into some AI tally thing. And when somebody comes in and tells them a story, it resonates, and it inspires in them ways to, now, take that conversation to their other colleagues, other staff members and other member of Congress.
(04:05:50)
So, example, I learned that not everybody in Congress knows that the research that the NIA funds is curiosity-driven from individuals like each of us. That is something we need to educate them about. Okay.
(04:06:10)
Today, there's been a lot of wonderful ideas about communicating with the public, and I just want to amplify that, and perhaps, say something like, let's imagine a future where a popular culture is sort of inculcated and infused with science culture. Right? Then, we won't be having these fundamental misunderstandings and gaps that we experienced today in our culture.
(04:06:49)
The final thing I want to say is, you guys never would've known that, I'm up here and I'm going to tell you a story that I'm here because of DEI. Okay. No? I'm a white guy from Vermont, but my dad was from Poland. He was born in 1923. He was a very poor, he was in a village of 12 houses.
(04:07:15)
He was orphaned at seven, but he was identified as talented in grade school by his teacher, who was a member of a national network that had been established to identify talented kids, poor kids in the villages, and find those kids and get them scholarships to go on to higher education. And higher education in Poland, at the time, in the '30s meant going beyond sixth grade. Right?
(04:07:43)
And he got in a scholarship to go to a gymnasium in Vilnius, Lithuania, and in that first two years there before the war started, he learned Russian and German and mathematics. And then, the war started. The languages he learned saved his life. He was a slave laborer for the Nazis, and he was able to serve in his little community of workers as a translator between the Germans and his companions there, his fellow slave laborers.
(04:08:20)
And of course, he came to the States and here I am. So, anyway, I feel like if he hadn't gone to school, probably, I wouldn't be here today. I almost certainly wouldn't be. And so, what I want to emphasize is those young people in Poland in the '30s had wonderful vision of affirmative action for people who were underserved. And we can remember them.
Music (04:09:07):
I may not live to see our glory.
(04:09:07)
But I will gladly join the fight.
(04:09:07)
Let's have another round tonight.
(04:09:07)
Raise a glass to freedom.
(04:09:07)
Something they can never take away.
(04:09:07)
No matter what they tell you.
(04:09:07)
Raise our glass-
Speaker 7 (04:09:07):
All right y'all. Thanks for sticking with us. Last but not least, we have Congressman Jamie Raskin, who represents Maryland's 8th congressional district in the US House of Representatives.
(04:09:22)
Rep. Raskin was chosen by the Democratic caucus to be the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the 118th Congress.
(04:09:27)
Please, join me in welcoming Congressman Jamie Raskin.
Music (04:09:36):
[inaudible 04:09:37]
Rep. Raskin (04:09:36):
Hello US science people. Any Marylanders out there? I love it.
Audience (04:09:55):
Yeah.
Rep. Raskin (04:09:55):
We got Virginians?
Audience (04:10:03):
Yeah.
Rep. Raskin (04:10:03):
We have Washingtonians?
Audience (04:10:03):
Yeah.
Rep. Raskin (04:10:07):
People in D.C., we're fighting for statehood for Washington.
Audience (04:10:10):
Yeah.
Rep. Raskin (04:10:13):
We got some, and I'm with you guys. But if Trump follows through his threats and takes over the District of Columbia, you got a home in the free state.
(04:10:27)
My friends, I'm here as a true-blue [inaudible 04:10:33] Democrat to lay my cards on the table, but I know all of us are here across the political spectrum as champions of science. So, I wanted to begin my remarks as your last speaker, and I've been given an hour and 48 minutes to complete the program.
(04:10:50)
I wanted to end on a bipartisan note by invoking our last great Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. Now, Lincoln was a man of science, a man of reason. He was a champion of immigration and immigrants. He was an enemy of the know-nothings and he hated conspiracy theory. He was a champion of liberty and union. He was an enemy of the monarchs, the oligarchs, the theocrats, the slave masters and the autocrats.
(04:11:33)
And if Lincoln were here today, he would be here today. And I've got to say since I'm trying to mark this now, this is my 10th rally since this nightmare started, and remember, my friends, I just met somebody, it's her first rally, remember this, a rally a day keeps the fascists away. All right?
(04:12:03)
I know Lincoln's not here, but I came to ask America's greatest scientists who've assembled here today some questions, because I work on Capitol Hill and I've got some real uncertainty and confusion now about some things. So, I wonder if you could answer some yes or no questions as we say.
(04:12:26)
First of all, can you actually cure COVID- 19 by injecting yourself with bleach?
Audience (04:12:32):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:12:41):
Thank you. Can you redirect a hurricane with a thick Sharpie?
Audience (04:12:43):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:12:46):
Can you cure or even treat autism with right-wing conspiracy theories?
Audience (04:12:48):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:12:49):
Can you reverse climate change by increasing carbon emissions, and then, banning the use of the words climate change?
Audience (04:13:00):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:13:11):
Well, can you make a democratic leader into a dictator by calling him a dictator?
Audience (04:13:13):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:13:13):
Can you turn a fascist like Vladimir Putin into a democratic leader by calling him a genius?
Audience (04:13:18):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:13:24):
So, if you're telling me you can't cure COVID-19 by injecting yourself with bleach, if you can't redirect a hurricane with a Sharpie, if you can't cure autism with right-wing conspiracy theories, my friends, are you going to lie down and let the autocrats, the plutocrats, the kleptocrats, the theocrats, the DOGE bureaucrats, the oligarchs, the conspiracy theorists, the liars, and the dictators roll all over you in 2025 or 2026?
Audience (04:13:55):
No.
Rep. Raskin (04:14:01):
I didn't think so. I got another question. I really did want to ask one of you scientists, which is, why do the people who believe in social Darwinism not believe in Darwinism?
Audience (04:14:16):
He's stupid.
Rep. Raskin (04:14:18):
But look, they want to replace the science of Francis Collins and Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin with the science of Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Robert F. Kennedy.
Audience (04:14:35):
Boo.
Rep. Raskin (04:14:35):
They want to replace science with political science, but I want to teach them a little bit of real political science, which is the kind that I know, because they seemed to need a refresher course in the United States Constitution.
Audience (04:14:52):
Yeah.
Rep. Raskin (04:14:53):
So, our founders were enlightenment thinkers. They were scientists, they were engineers, they were builders.
Audience (04:15:05):
Right.
Rep. Raskin (04:15:05):
They were men and women of reason. They designed the Constitution based on a representative democracy. They overthrew a king. They defeated monarchy, they defeated theocracy, they separated church and states. The constitution, they wrote a preamble, we, the people, in order to form a more perfect…
Audience (04:15:29):
Union.
Rep. Raskin (04:15:40):
A more perfect union. Right, UAW? In order to form union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and preserve to ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of liberty, do hereby ordain and establish the constitution of these United States of America. And the very next line took the sovereignty of the people and set up Article I, saying, all legislative power is vested in the Congress of the United States of America. In the Congress.
(04:16:06)
We've got the law-making power. If anybody is going to tear down the NIH, if anybody is going to dismantle the agency for international development, if anybody is going to take down the Food and Drug Administration, it's going to be the Congress of the United States, not Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, not DOGE.
(04:16:34)
We created these institutions, and we fund these institutions. And the appropriations act is an act of Congress. It's a federal law. Like the law, you can't assault federal officers. That's what an Appropriations Act is. It's not a budgetary recommendation.
(04:17:02)
If we put the money into NIH, you spend the money on NIH. So, you go from Article I which lays out all the powers of Congress page after page after page to regulate Congress domestically and internationally, to declare war, the budget, taxes, you name it, all of it is in there. And then, even in Article I Section 8 Clause 18, and all other powers necessary and proper to the execution the foregoing powers.
(04:17:41)
Then, you come to Article II, then, you come to Article II. Four short paragraphs. One of them is all about how you impeach a president for treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors.
(04:17:42)
And by the way, my esteemed admired scientists, don't ever buy that fifth grade dogma of three co-equal branches. First of all, co-equal is not even a word. Okay? Co-equal is like extremely unique. If they're saying we have three equal branches, go say it, but it's wrong, because if there were in three equal branches, why do we have the right to impeach and try and convict the president and he doesn't have the right to impeach, try and convict us?
(04:18:41)
We had a revolution against the king and a monarch, and in the Articles of Confederation, we didn't even have a president. That came in after in the Constitution. Why? Well, here's the core job. The core job of the president. You read in Article II. To take care that the laws are faithfully executed, to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Not distorted, not trashed, not thrown away, not maligned. Take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
(04:19:16)
That's your job, Donald Trump. Do your job.
Audience (04:19:19):
Do your job. Do your job. Do your job. Do your job. Do your job.
Rep. Raskin (04:19:19):
Do your job. Do your job.
Audience (04:19:31):
Do your job. Do your job.
Rep. Raskin (04:19:38):
Well, here's somebody else that's got a job. Article III, the judicial power, right? The Supreme Court. Well, JD Vance tells us, Donald Trump tells us they get to decide what the law is. The executive branch will finally tell us what the law is.
Audience (04:19:52):
Boo.
Rep. Raskin (04:19:57):
No, they've got to go back and read Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall in 1803, 1803. It is emphatically the province and the duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. It's emphatically the province and the duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.
(04:20:20)
And in that case, they made the whole thing very clear, because Donald Trump says, I've got complete control with my unitary executive theory over… Everybody under me, I can tell them to do whatever I want, and that's the law. I don't think so. In Marbury v. Madison, the court said that the court had the authority to tell Secretary of State James Madison to deliver a commission to a judge, even if Thomas Jefferson was telling him not to. The court has the authority to do it, because that is the court's job.
(04:20:58)
Now, Article VI of the Constitution says this, and they need a very deep refresher on this one. The constitution of the United States and the laws under it are the supreme law of the land. We have no kings here. We have no queens here. We have no czars. We have no monarchs. We have no emperors. And we have no dictators of a new Silicon Valley techno state. We have just the Constitution.
(04:21:34)
And if you want to amend the Constitution, there's a way to do that, too. A two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate and three-quarters of the states. Now, I can't take them all the way through the entire Bill of Rights, but I do want to talk about the amendment that is most crucial to science, which is the first amendment to the Constitution.
(04:21:56)
Our framers wrote the First Amendment and rebelled against centuries of religious warfare, holy crusades, inquisitions, witchcraft trials. They wanted to found government on a different basis, which is the rights of the people, everybody being created equally and everybody having the right to speak, the right of free press, the right of the people to assemble, the right of petition for redress of grievances, free exercise of religion, no establishment of religion.
(04:22:40)
In America, we do not censor words. We don't kick reporters out of the White House because they call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity is not an illegal word. Equity is not an illegal word. Inclusion is not an illegal word. They're not unconstitutional. But you know what is unconstitutional? Insurrection.
Audience (04:23:12):
Yes.
Rep. Raskin (04:23:12):
Insurrection, violent insurrection. In five or six different places, our constitution condemns and opposes insurrection. Article I Section 8 Clause 15 says, Congress has the power to call forth the militias from the states in order to repel invasions and suppress insurrections. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment says that anyone who's sworn an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, who violates the constitution by engaging in the insurrection or rebellion shall never be allowed to hold federal or state office.
(04:24:02)
Again, our constitution is in an anti-insurrection constitution. Our constitution does not allow for the establishment of religion, and we have to fight these battles every day on Capitol Hill. A colleague who got up no longer ago, he said the moral downfall of America was in 1962, in Engel v. Vitale, when the Supreme Court banned prayer in the public schools.
(04:24:28)
And I got up and I said, "You know what? The Supreme Court never banned prayer in the public schools. As long as there are pop math quizzes, there will be prayer in the public schools. Anybody can pray whenever he or she wants to pray. What the Supreme Court banned is that government bureaucrats cannot compel your children to pray against the beliefs of your family". And now, Louisiana has voted to endorse the 10 Commandments and to post the 10 Commandments. So, of course, my mega colleagues show up, and what do you know? We've got to endorse the 10 Commandments. I said, "Gee, the 10 Commandments have been doing fine for millennia without an endorsement by the Freedom Caucus". And the House of Representatives, no, they insist. This is… It's got to be done. They said the 10 Commandments are basis of the Bill of Rights. Really, I said. Really?
(04:25:37)
The first commandment is thou shall have no other God before me. The First Amendment says, thou shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Hard for me to see that. But no, they insist. They want to go ahead. They want to vote on the 10 Commandments. So, I went to the Rules Committee. I said, you know what? If we're going to vote on the 10 Commandments, we should have to vote on each commandment separately. Okay? Not let them get away with that omnibus package.
(04:26:05)
And you shouldn't be able to vote for any commandment you've ever violated yourself. How about that? You know, I noticed that the Speaker's chief of staff was picked up on DUI the night. They're not that into DEI, but they love DUI. We've got to stop those DUI hires on Capitol Hill.
(04:26:05)
My friends, let me just end with a thought or two. I learned, when I was in school, that the truth of an empirical proposition is whether it corresponds to reality. The truth of an abstract conceptual proposition is whether it corresponds to the rules of logic. But the truth of a moral and political proposition is the courage with which you act to make it real in the world.
(04:27:18)
And that's why this Marching rally is so important, because your determination to defend science, reason and democracy against authoritarianism means that we can win this struggle, because the scientists are in the streets today, are in the streets.
(04:27:42)
So, I'm going to leave you with the words of two great fighters for democracy. One of them, the great Frederick Douglass, who was born about an hour away from here at the Wye River plantation into slavery, who escaped from slavery to become our great freedom fighter, and through the Civil War reconstruction, and he said, "If there's no struggle, there's no progress. And the struggle may be moral, it may be material, it may be moral material, but there must be struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will". A message to you from a great Marylander, Frederick Douglass. And my friends, I'll leave you the words of another great rationalist and radical democratic patriot from the 18th century, the great Tom Paine, who my son, Tommy, was named after. Tom Paine got over here in 1774, two years before the American Revolution. He fell in love with the promise of America. He said, "If this land lives up to its values and its ideals, it will become an asylum to humanity", he said. Not an insane asylum, mind you, not an insane asylum. An asylum to humanity. A place of refuge for people seeking freedom from religious, political, and intellectual repression all over the world.
(04:29:18)
And then, he wrote that book that ignited the American Revolution, Common Sense. Common sense, he wrote. The sixth sense we all have when we're willing to reason together and put aside all of the dogma and the conspiracy theory and what we would call in our time, propaganda and disinformation.
(04:29:43)
And anyway, that book helped to ignite the revolution. George Washington had the soldiers at Valley Forge, reading by campfire Common Sense to everyone. But it was a tough year, and the country was split. The people were split right down the middle. And half the people were running around saying, "You can't beat the kings and the queens and the autocrats and the monarchs. You can't separate church and state. You can't found government on the principle of reason, science and purism. It won't work".
(04:30:16)
But half the people said, "Yes, we can. We can build government on the principle of the consent of the governed, and the freedoms and rights of the people". But Paine wanted to write a pamphlet to give people hope during a very dark, hard time. And he wrote this pamphlet, a beautiful pamphlet called The American Crisis. And I just want to quote a little passage to you. I'm going to update the language pursuant to instructions from Nancy Pelosi, because she said Tom Paine was a feminist and that he was, he was fighting for women's voting rights in the 18th century. He was. And he was an abolitionist, too.
(04:30:57)
But anyway, Paine said, "These are the times that try men and women's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will shrink at this moment from the service of their cause and their country, but everyone that stands with us now will win the love and the favor and the affection of every man and every woman for all time. Tyranny like hell is not easily conquered, but we have this saving consolation. The more difficult the struggle, the more glorious in the end will be our victory". Let's make that victory ours.
Music (04:31:30):
[inaudible 04:31:52].
Speaker 8 (04:32:00):
Right. Hello, everyone.
Audience (04:32:00):
Hey.
(04:32:00)
Woo.
Speaker 8 (04:32:02):
That is the end of our speaker program. So, I want to thank you all so much for coming out today. It's so inspirational to see people coming together, and talking about science and starting these conversations that are not going to be finished after today.
(04:32:15)
And so, we really, really want to thank all of you. We want to thank the volunteers that have put this event on, and all of our other events across the nation and internationally, the-