February, 01 2017, 02:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lisa Nurnberger, Media Director, lnurnberger@ucs.org
Tillerson Receives Highest "No" Vote for Secretary of State, Science Group Expects Him To Uphold Paris Agreement, Recuse Himself from Exxon-Related Matters for Full Term
Today, Congress approved 56-43 President Trump's nominee, recently retired ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, to serve as secretary of state. The vote against Tillerson's confirmation was the highest for a secretary of state since World War II. Condoleeza Rice, by contrast, was approved by an 85-13 vote, Henry Kissinger by 78-7 and Dean Acheson by 83-6.
WASHINGTON
Today, Congress approved 56-43 President Trump's nominee, recently retired ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, to serve as secretary of state. The vote against Tillerson's confirmation was the highest for a secretary of state since World War II. Condoleeza Rice, by contrast, was approved by an 85-13 vote, Henry Kissinger by 78-7 and Dean Acheson by 83-6.
During his confirmation hearing, Tillerson offered to recuse himself from diplomatic decisions that could have an impact on ExxonMobil for only one year, not his entire term. He repeatedly failed to acknowledge that burning fossil fuels is driving major changes to Earth's climate to, downplaying the need to address global warming.
Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"Today's vote shows that a significant number of legislators have grave concerns about Rex Tillerson's ability to put the interests of the American people first. Tillerson failed to explain how he would resolve potential conflicts of interest over the next four years and--for all his talk about 'accountability'--he evaded questions about ExxonMobil's positions and actions under his leadership.
"If Tillerson is serious about living up to his professed values of leadership and accountability, he should:
- Recuse himself from diplomatic decisions that overlap with ExxonMobil's interests for his entire term, rather than just the one year he promised.
- Ensure the United States meets its commitments under international climate agreements, not--as he described--passively fill a 'seat at the table.' And,
- Defend national security interests by taking concrete steps to limit U.S. carbon emissions to ensure increases in global average temperatures remain below 2 degrees Celsius.
"The scientific community and the 194 other countries that signed the Paris climate agreement will not sit idly by. We will be watching Mr. Tillerson's actions closely."
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
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"The CDC is being decapitated. This is an absolute disaster for public health." —Dr. Robert Steinbrook, Public Citizen
In an announcement earlier Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) narrowed the kinds of conditions people need to have in order to receive approval for available Covid-19 vaccines.
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Demetre C. Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Dr. Jennifer Layden, who led the office of public health data; and CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry all submitted their resignations.
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In his explosive resignation letter made public, Dr. Daskalakis said he did not make the decision lightly.
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The letter continues:
I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health. The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.
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