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Apr 8, 2009 | 1
Lawmakers investigating porn-surfing at the National Science Foundation (NSF) say the agency hasn’t done enough to discipline the errant employees, and that their on-the-job activities "may be fostering an intimidating and offensive work environment."
Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) sent a letter detailing their concerns Monday to NSF Director Arden Bement and Steven Beering, chairman of the agency's science board. Mikulski heads up and Grassley is a ranking member of Senate committees that oversee the $6 billion NSF, whose inspector general (IG) Thomas Cross first revealed the pornographic exploits in a report last fall.
Jan 29, 2009 | 18
National Science Foundation (NSF) employees wasted scads of time and tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars perusing online porn on the clock—and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley (R–Iowa) wants to know how such lapses could occur at a $6-billion federal agency.
The accounts of employees' surfing for smut are documented in the NSF’s semiannual report (pdf), which was published in September and notes seven cases of pornographic exploits among the foundation's 1,500 employees uncovered by Thomas Cross, the foundation’s inspector general (IG).
“The semiannual report raises serious questions about how the National Science Foundation manages its resources," Grassley said in a statement today. "Congress ought to demand a full accounting before it gives the agency another $3 billion in the stimulus bill" set to be debated by the Senate next week. (The House passed an $819 billion version of the package yesterday.)
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