WASHINGTON — Bill Nye encouraged Congress on Friday to ensure legal safeguards for scientific research.

Speaking at the Stand Up for Science rally in Washington, the former host of the PBS children’s show "Bill Nye the Science Guy" said science is part of the American story and has enabled the United States to feed the world, cure diseases, create global transportation systems and send people into space.

What You Need To Know

  • Bill Nye the Science Guy encouraged Congress to ensure legal safeguards for scientific research on Friday

  • Speaking at the Stand Up for Science rally in Washington, the former PBS children’s show host said science is part of the American story

  • Nye was one of at least a dozen speakers at an event designed to bring attention to the Trump administration’s recent cuts to scientific research funded by the National Institutes of Health

  • In February, the Department of Health and Human Services cut hundreds of millions of dollars in NIH funding for the administrative costs of conducting health research; a federal judge has since blocked the cuts

“If the U.S. is to lead the world, science cannot be suppressed,” he told a large crowd assembled outside the Lincoln Memorial. Many of the rallygoers were holding handmade signs that read, “MAHA kills,” “brains love science” and “Got measles? No? Thank science.” "MAHA" refers to "Make America healty again," a slogan created by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"Today we demand that scientists not be censored, that there be legal safeguards to prevent interference in their research and that they be able to communicate their findings freely," Nye said, adding that Americans pay for lifesaving science with tax dollars.

Nye was one of at least a dozen speakers at an event designed to bring attention to the Trump administration’s recent cuts to scientific research funded by the National Institutes of Health. In February, the Department of Health and Human Services cut hundreds of millions of dollars in NIH funding for the administrative costs of conducting health research. 

Following a lawsuit filed on behalf of 22 attorneys general who argued that halting research would lead to people losing access to vaccines and cures for cancer, infectious diseases and addiction, a U.S. district judge temporarily halted the cuts last month. On Wednesday, that federal judge extended her pause on the planned cuts so the court could fully consider the case.

Several rare cancer survivors who have benefited from cures funded by the NIH spoke at Friday’s event, including Emily Whitehead, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at age 5 and has been cancer free for 13 years after participating in a clinical trial for a new cell therapy treatment that was only possible through federally funded research. 

“We’re celebrating the achievements of science over decades and advocating for strong public support at a time when serious threats of harm are happening,” said Dr. Francis Collins, a physician and scientist who led the Human Genome Project that allowed scientists to identify genes associated with certain diseases. He also led the National Institutes of Health for 12 years, serving under three presidents in both political parties.

“I’m a patriot. I love my country, and I’m worried about my country right now,” he said, before reciting the last line of the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the nearby Lincoln Memorial: "The nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

Collins said the Human Genome Project only succeeded through the strong support of members of Congress from both parties.

A request for comment from the Department of Health and Human Services was not immediately answered.