William R. Steiger

Steiger's role in the Bush administration was the subject of controversy. He was charged with implementing a Bush administration policy declaring that U.S. government scientists and public-health experts must "serve as representatives of the U.S. government at all times and advocate U.S. government policies." The policy required that U.S. government scientists be cleared by a political appointee before accepting invitations to World Health Organization (WHO) meetings. The policy was criticized in the scientific community as an effort to politicize science, while the Bush administration defended its policy by arguing than HHS was in a better position than WHO to know which scientists to send to meetings.^[3]

Steiger was involved in several other scientific-political controversies during the Bush administration. In 2004, on behalf of the administration, he attacked a WHO plan to combat obesity, arguing that the link between the marketing of high-fat foods and obesity was unproven, as was the role of vegetables and fruit in a healthy diet. Steiger's letter echoed complaints about the report from the U.S. sugar and food lobbies.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Steiger was also identified in a