Confirmation of Eric S. Lander

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEE. Madam President, per an agreement that was reached with my colleagues, Dr. Eric Lander, the President's nominee for the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy was not subject to a rollcall vote on the Senate floor, but was instead considered under a voice vote.

I would like to be on the record that I am opposed to the nomination of Dr. Lander. As OSTP Director, Dr. Lander will advise the President and the administration on all the scientific, technological, and engineering aspects of Federal policy, including Federal research. Dr. Lander should receive even further scrutiny for this position after President Biden has chosen to elevate the Director of the OSTP to a Cabinet-level position.

This nomination comes at a critical time as the Senate seeks to pass the Endless Frontier Act, which would increase Federal scientific research and development funding--imprudently in my opinion--by over $100 billion. As I have weighed the nomination of Dr. Lander both in the Senate Commerce Committee and in the weeks leading up to his consideration by the full Senate, Dr. Lander has failed to provide the guarantees that he supports appropriate guardrails around federally funded research, including protections for unborn life through the prohibition of experimenting with aborted fetal tissue, embryonic stem cells, or live embryos.

With the consideration of the Endless Frontier Act and the greater role that OSTP will take in directing the direction of our Federal research and development, I am very concerned that Dr. Lander has not assured me that he will put in place protections for the unborn or institute appropriate ethical guardrails to protect such life.

For these reasons, I opposed the nomination of Dr. Lander.

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