Best Practices for Taking Science to Congress

By Sheeva Azma

I virtually attended the 2024 AAAS Conference and was lucky to get a press pass to attend as a journalist due to my membership in the National Association of Science Writers. I learned a lot that I am sharing in the 2024 AAAS annual meeting recap blogs here. I am a dedicated AAAS stan; you can read all of my writing about various AAAS seminars and meetings I’ve attended here.

This session, titled “Lifting the Veil on Congressional Science Policy,” was meant to demystify Congress for scientists, and in my opinion, this session lived up to that goal. AAAS’s Erin Heath, who served as the moderator for this session, described working with Congress as an “adventure,” “ball of contradictions,” and “a mystery.”

“[Reducing] the costs” for Policymakers to Use Science

Karen Akerlof of the Department of Environmental Science & Policy at George Mason University spoke first about the perceived and actual role of science and scientists in the halls of Congress. According to her, staffers are aware you have a reason if you are there. “You’re not just there for the great coffee,” she joked. If it looks like the science is being used for political gains, it will fail to be picked up in other spaces, she related. Therefore, Akerlof says, we should consider the many different contexts in which science can be used.

In many cases, science supports existing policy positions, according to Akerlof’s research. When it comes to using science in a novel way to drive policy, the barriers are much greater for staffers with lower science and science communication literacy. This highlights the need for scientists to “reduce the costs for scientists to use science in these ways” – so that policymakers are not “deluged” by the science.

Reflecting on the Important Roles of Congressional Staffers

Next, Sheril Kirschenbaum spoke. As someone working as a science communicator at Michigan State University, she says that the lead contamination of water in nearby Flint, Michigan drove home the idea that many people are excluded from policymaking on science-related issues. Kirschenbaum is interested in the staffers working in Congress, who she describes as “the folks behind the scenes.” She arrived in the halls of Congress in 2006 for an ocean science policy fellowship, but she soon became the go-to for all science issues. “It was very clear that I was in a very different world,” Kirschenbaum says of her experience. “Things didn’t look the way I thought they would.”

Kirschenbaum has been reflecting on the staffers since then, and she had the opportunity to study them in her PhD work. She spoke to Democrat and Republican congressional staffers, women and men representing a diverse geographic sample of senior legislative staffers. She asked them about their go-to resources for science issues. “There’s a lot of Googling,” she says. “Academic scientists have a low priority, only behind think tanks and [non-governmental organizations].” Kirschenbaum says this should prompt people to think about the way they talk about science.

Effective Scientist Engagement with Congress

Chris King spoke next. He directs congressional and government affairs at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, D.C. “When you don’t have a PhD, you learn to be entertaining,” he joked. The National Academies engage in many activities; they conduct large studies and brief Congress on the results of their studies. They regularly conduct 100+ briefings per congressional session. Through this work, King started to think about ways to improve the impact of studies for Congress.

 “Congress is not monolithic in any way – it’s extremely diverse,” King stated. He mentions  the distinction between “science to inform policy” and “science policy,” which are not always the same, he argues. For example, he talks about the appropriations process – in which Congress decides what to fund, which includes science funding. He also talks about the NDAA or defense funding bill, which involves a lot of science and technology policy. 

“Congress looks to us to reduce uncertainty, by and large,” King says. “They want to be told what to do” with respect to policy issues, according to him. They are also concerned with the effect of laws on people. King provides the following insights for making policy engagement more effective with members of Congress:

• Be direct; discuss your policy “ask” first.
• Provide “specific, actionable” recommendations such as policy mechanisms.
• Identify relevant government offices that have relevant jurisdiction and make sure you know which agencies or departments implement the law after being enacted.
• Provide Congress with a cost estimate. They need to be able to approximate the financial investment required.
• Figure out priorities. Tradeoffs and compromises are a standard part of policymaking.
• Discuss your anticipated timeline. Congress views five-year problems differently than 50-year problems.
• Metrics factor heavily into legislation. What metrics will you use to measure success? Be specific about how you will know when your law has succeeded in achieving its goal.
• Know the history of your policy area. Congressional staff are knowledgeable about the history of a subject and how it’s handled. In order not to seem naive in discussions, scientists working with policymakers should know about the relevant history, as well, potentially including what has and hasn’t worked.

The panelists concluded by emphasizing building relationships and trust; getting outside of the echo chamber to talk to people with differing viewpoints than you; and working with government affairs professionals at one’s universities, professional societies, and so on. One of the biggest takeaways of this session can be summarized in Kirschenbaum’s statement to “see each other as people first.” By making ourselves more available to people of different parties as scientists, we will be more successful in our policy efforts.

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