a congressional fellows program. When I told the senator I was
James Murphy
interested in finding out how Congress used statistics, he grinned
James Murphy served as an AAAS Fellow in the
and said, “We don’t. If they support our agenda, we quote them.
office of Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) from 1985–
If they don’t, we ignore them.”
1986. His fellowship was sponsored by
This was not quite the case, but it does reflect that the major
the American Mathematical Society, the
focus of members’ offices is on their political agenda, not on the
Mathematical Association of America,
fine points of statistical analysis. Congressional committees that
and the Society for Industrial and
focus on specific issues are more likely to be interested in the cor-
Applied Mathematics. He is currently
rect use of statistics. Because I spent my fellowship in a member’s
head of the Division of Biostatistics
office, my comments are based on that experience.
and Bioinformatics at National Jewish
Despite my rough start, I felt I made a contribution to both
Health in Denver, Colorado.
the senator’s office and my profession by pointing out areas in
which statistics could help people understand the impact of legis-
lation. I wrote about my experiences in a series of articles for the
Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics’ news journal from
Washington, DC, as you probably already
1985 –1987.
know, is a little different from the rest
If you wish to influence policy in a member’s office, you first
of the world. I was the math fellow from
need to gain the member’s trust that you can correctly represent
1985–1986 in the office of Sen. Pete Domenici from New Mexico.
the policies the member supports. This requires more than just
At that time, the American Statistical Association did not have
statistics. If you work in a member’s office, you should be pre-
pared to deal with just about anything. During one meeting with
the secretary of education, the senator’s wastebasket caught fire.
“Jim, please deal with this,” indicated this was a new part of my
ASA invites you to help with our
job description.
The level of statistical knowledge in Congress is what you
member get a member campaign
would expect from a well-educated segment of the population.
Therefore, you should expect limited understanding of statistics
from the people you try to influence. I had one experience review-
ing a bill in which the definition of statistical significance was
incorrect. I called the appropriate office to report this and was told
that if it was defined within the bill, then that was the definition
that should be used, regardless. The bill was H.J. Res. 372, aka,
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings.
So, what does Congress need from professional statisticians?
Perhaps most importantly, they need to know they can talk to stat-
isticians and that statisticians have important and coherent con-
tributions to make to policy discussions. When I left the senator’s
office, I wasn’t sure I had accomplished anything in this regard.
Invite your colleagues to join the ASA, or tell us
Several years later, I met the office manager at another meeting
who they are and let us do the work!
and asked if he remembered me. He said, “Of course I do. You
were the best fellow we ever had.” You never know what impact
get involved:
you might have.
Direct your colleagues to join online today at
www.amstat.org/mgm
Another ASA Member, Steven Anderson, served as an AAAS
Risk Policy Fellow, working at the USDA Food Safety and
Provide us with your colleagues’ names online at
Inspection Service from 1999 to 2001. If you are interested
www.amstat.org/mgm and we will do all the work
in applying for an AAAS fellowship, I highly recommend you
Go to
www.amstat.org/mgm and print the
review the application procedure now so you are prepared for
applications to distribute in-person
the 2010 fellowship application deadline of December 15. If
you work in the federal government, check with your employer
about the possibility of special assignments on Capitol Hill. You
Every time someone you refer joins, you will
also may be interested in the Health Policy Fellowship, for which
receive a $10 gift certificate* good for
you will spend a year at NCHS. That application deadline is
any ASA product or service.
January 9. If you would like more information about any of
*member get a member certificates are processed and awarded quarterly. these opportunities or are aware of other ASA members who
AMSTAT
have been AAAS fellows or otherwise spent a year on the Hill,
email me at
pierson@amstat.org. n
34 AMSTAT NEWS DECEMBER 2008
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