Dear Mr. Lew:

Upon taking office, President Obama issued a memorandum to Department and Agency heads entitled “Scientific Integrity” that stated: “The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technological findings and conclusions. If scientific and technological information is developed and used by the Federal Government, it should ordinarily be made available to the public.”

For more than two years, the Committee on Natural Resources (“Committee”) has sought information and documents to help explain the Obama Administration’s decision imposing a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the circumstances surrounding the editing of a May 2010 Department of the Interior (“Department”) report, entitled “Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf” (“Drilling Moratorium Report”), that incorrectly suggested peer reviewers supported the moratorium. This moratorium cost thousands of jobs and led to decreased oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the entire letter HERE.