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Science 24 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5768, p. 1691
DOI: 10.1126/science.311.5768.1691c
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ScienceScope

A controversial Bush Administration decision to cap the number of government researchers allowed to attend meetings outside the country apparently doesn't apply when the United States is the host--even if the meeting is across the ocean (Science, 24 February, p. 1086). AIDS scientists are scratching their heads over the logic behind a 50-person limit for the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August when none exists for a similar meeting this June in Durban, South Africa, sponsored by the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator in the State Department.

Mark Wainberg, co-chair of the Canadian conference, says the goals of the two meetings "overlap to a considerable extent," and that the Toronto location was chosen largely for its proximity to the United States. The bill for travel to Durban "could have sent a lot of people to Toronto," he says.

State Department spokesperson Kristin Pugh contends that the 50-person limit, adopted last year by Congress, "doesn't apply" because the Durban meeting is sponsored by the U.S. government. No such exemption exists in the legislation, which refers only to any "international conference occurring outside the United States." But Pugh says the department's policy will "comply with U.S. law."




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)