Reply #1: "We believe the elimination of the civilian orientation of the Civil Applications Committee represen [View All]

[rodeodance]

The shift would be a "grave mistake," and the administration should rethink its plan, said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the USGS and a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Dicks said he's heard from federal scientists who don't like the plan. "They are worried," he said. "The scientists say this information is very valuable to them, and they are concerned this new office will be looking more at homeland security and law enforcement."

The proposed change also has raised concerns on Capitol Hill that military spy satellites and other intelligence assets could be used to give federal and local law enforcement officials data that they could use to target illegal immigrants and drug smugglers, among other things.

"We believe the elimination of the civilian orientation of the Civil Applications Committee represents explicit harm in the near term to USGS and other civilian federal agencies, and it represents a potentially serious harm over the longer term to the constitutional protections U.S. citizens expect and deserve," Dicks said in a letter to administration officials