Advocacy - Comment Letter
Dear Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries,
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, write to express our concern and strong opposition to the recent incidents in which public data have been selectively removed from federal websites, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Scientific and Technical Information and many other agencies. As you know, public data inform key investment and planning decisions in the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors. Likewise, they are used to monitor the delivery of services that Americans depend on, including health care, education, and essential infrastructure. Removing or curtailing access to these data, even temporarily, erodes the public trust that federal statistical and scientific agencies have earned. These actions also deny the public of scientists and other independent analysts use of federal data so important to public and private sector leaders in their work. Further, their actions have real world consequences, leaving individuals, families, communities, and policymakers alike without access to secure, reliable federal data that they have paid for and expect to use.
We are also alarmed that this violation of trust through this restriction of access to public data was done without regard for legal and administrative precedent. Federal laws, including the Paperwork Reduction Act, Title 44 of the U.S.C., and the Evidence Based Policymaking Act, are but a few of the major laws governing the collection, dissemination, and protection of federal data. The Administration’s unprecedented action not only violates the spirit of these laws, but also their intent.
We call on Congress to demand the complete restoration of any federal data that have been removed and to work with the Administration to prevent any future purge or removal of data from federal agency websites and portals.
Thank you for considering our concerns and taking action to remedy the current situation and prevent future actions that would undermine the integrity of the federal statistical system and their data products.
Sincerely,
Organizations
Academic Data Science Alliance
AcademyHealth
Ad Hoc Analytics, LLC
African Heritage Food Co-Op
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Alaska Survey Research
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Allyson Kelley & Associates PLLC
Amercian Educational Research Association
American Academy of Pediatric Neuropsychology
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
American Association for Public Opinion Research
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association of Geographers
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American Educational Research Association
American Geophysical Union
American Geophysical Union
American Industrial Hygiene Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Library Association
American Mathematical Society
American Meteorological Society
American Occupational Therapy Association
American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association - Division 5 - Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
American Society for Cell Biology
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Society on Aging
American Sociological Association
American Statistical Association
American Thoracic Society
APA Division 16-School Psychology
APA Division 44
Ardea Strategies
Ariel Research Partners
Asian American Federation
Asian American Organizing Project
Asian American Psychological Association
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California
Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine
Association for Psychological Science
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
Association of Population Centers
Association of Public Data Users
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Babbie Enterprises, Inc.
Botanical Society of America
BPS
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
Brennan Research, LLC
California - U.S. Census Bureau Federal-State Co-operative for Population Estimates and for Population Projections
California State Data Center
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Endometriosis Care
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR)
Center for New York City Affairs
Center for Urban Research
Center for Urban Research, CUNY Graduate Center
Clinical Psychology Services
Coalition on Human Needs
CommunicationFIRST
Community Data Roundtable
Competitive Edge
Computing Research Association
Connecticut Voices for Children
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
da Vinci Learning Center
David S Geiser PhD PA
Decision Demographics, LLC
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Ronald Lee, LLC
Duke University Population Research Institute (DUPRI)
East Metro Strong
Eastern Michigan University Department of Psychology
Ecological Society of America
Economic Policy Institute Economic Progress Institute
Economic Roundtable
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Engaged Organizations
Entomological Society of America Environmental Data and Governance Initiative
Equality California
Fair Count
Federation of American Scientists
Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, University at Buffalo
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Fractional Insights
Free Government Information (FGI)
Fullchange Therapy
GDB Consulting
Gella Azurin Foundation
Good Government Coalition of New Jersey (GGCNJ)
Government Information Watch
Guttmacher Institute
Hillcrest Advisory
HousingLink
Hudson Pacific
Human Rights Campaign
IASSIST - International Association for Social Science Information and Technology
ICPSR, The Data Consortium
Impact Fund
Independent Public Health Services (IPHS)
Indivisible Cranbury
INFORMS
Initiative for a Competitive
Inner City Insights Association
Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker
Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Japanese American Citizens League
Kansas Population Center
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
League of Women Voters of the United States
LevittSeldin Consulting
LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy
Lupiani Insights&Strategies
M. Davis and Company, Inc (MDAC)
MACS - Minnesotans for the ACS and 2030 Census
Main Street Project
Maine Center for Economic Policy
Marker Consulting, LLC
Marketing Systems Group
Maryland Center on Economic Policy
Maryland Population Research Center, University of Maryland
MBC Pharma
Mesenbourg Statistical Consulting
Metadata Game Changers LLC
Michigan League for Public Policy
Minnesota Compass
Minnesota Council on Foundations
Missouri Budget Project
Montgomery County Villages Consortium
Movement Advancement Project
Movement Economics
MPKeY, LLC.
NALEO Educational Fund
NAPx Consulting
Nashville Neuropsychology & Family Services
National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter
National Council on Measurement in Education
National Council on Teacher Quality
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
National League for Nursing
National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network
National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Register of Health Service Psychologists
National Safety Council
National Urban League
National Women's Law Center
needledrop LLC
Neuro Wellness Solutions
New Disabled South
Oberlin College Psychology Department
Ohio Psychological Association
Oklahoma Policy Institute
Phase Two Advisory
PML Consultants
Policy Matters Ohio
Population Association of America
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Power to Decide
Prevent Blindness
Project On Government Oversight
Psychology ATX
Public Management Research Association
Queery Research Organization
Rebecca Schueller Training & Consulting
Reineke Consulting LLC
Rincon & Associates LLC
Ritual Wellness ATX
Riverway Psychological Health
RLS Demographics, Inc.
Sage
Sakura Center for Psychological Assessment and Therapy
Senecio Corporation
Snohomish County Health Department
Social Work Grand Challenge to Reduce Extreme Economic Inequality
SOCIALEXPLORER INC.
Society for Clinical Neuropsychology
Society for Health Psychology, Division 38 of the American Psychological Association
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Society for Research in Child Development
Society for Research in Psychopathology
Society for Research on Adolescence
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Society of Addiction Psychology
Society of Behavioral Medicine
Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Society of Clinical Psychology, Division 12
Society of Pediatric Psychology (APA Division 54)
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Statistics Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Steering Committee Federal State Cooperative on Population Estimates (FSCPE)
Strategic Research Group
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
The Data Center
The Electrochemical Society
The Harris Poll
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Tracy Zivin-Tutela, MD
Tumult Labs
Twin Cities Research Group
UC Riverside Center for Community Solutions
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Union of Concerned Scientists
University of Cincinnati - Psychology Graduate Students Association
University of Colorado Population Center
University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies
UNL Bureau of Sociological Research
US Professional Association for Transgender Health Voices for Racial Justice
Wilder Foundation
WIN Measures
WIN Network
Women Employed
Yun Kim Population Research Laboratory
Zencity