Lawmaker: North Carolina-based NIH Institute May be Targeting Workers

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http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/1723685/

By ANDREW BRIDGES

Associated Press Writer

Posted: Aug. 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — Employees of the National Institutes of Health located

in North Carolina are being asked to report all contacts with

Congress - a request that one lawmaker suspects is an attempt to

flush out would-be whistle-blowers.

Managers distributed " record of congressional inquiry " forms to

employees of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,

located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and one of the 27

institutes and centers that make up the NIH. At least one of those

workers reported being made " nervous " by the form - and forwarded it

to congressional investigators probing allegations of conflicts of

interest, excessive spending and other management issues at the

institute.

Separately, the NIH is beginning its own review of the management and

leadership of the institute, NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni

announced Monday. The embattled director of the institute, Dr.

Schwartz, is stepping aside for the duration of the review.

The form asks for details of each telephone call from the offices of

members of the House or Senate, including on the information sought.

Logging and reporting such calls is standard procedure in the

congressional affairs offices of federal departments and agencies.

But the forms don't appear to be something given out to " regular "

employees, said Sen. Grassley. Their distribution came in the

midst of multiple and ongoing investigations by Congress, including

by the Iowa Republican's staff. Nor do the forms appear to have been

distributed elsewhere within NIH. (More click site)

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WOW... good for them for standing up to these idiots...