Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala was the keynote speaker at a National Association of Science Writers science policy breakfast briefing held February 9 at the AAAS meeting. Shalala expressed chagrin over reports that high-level National Institutes of Health officials are whispering in the ears of Congress members. While lobbying by government employees is illegal, rumors have long circulated that certain Clinton administration policies-most notably, ensuring that funding is appropriated for NIH's Office of AIDS Research -- are being undermined from within by top NIH staff. In response to a reporter's question, Shalala said that end runs of this kind are "irritating but hardly surprising." And, she noted, while it's hard to stop strong-willed people from disagreeing, regarding overt lobbying, "if I catch them, I'll fire them."
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