Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being with us this afternoon.
Dr. Saad, I'll begin with you.
In your book, The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense, you wrote this:
For decades now, a set of idea pathogens, largely stemming from universities, has relentlessly assaulted science, reason, logic, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, individual liberty, and individual dignity. If we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in free societies as we have done, then we have to be assured in our principles and stand ready to defend them.
Earlier, we had Dr. Snow discuss some of his concerns. He mentioned an activist agenda having been embedding in funding applications, primarily in the social sciences and the humanities. Essentially, you're telling those looking for research grants to accept the narrative to get the funding.
Should science not be about discovery and not accepting the narrative that some government bureaucrat or some university bureaucrat puts forward? Do you agree that we need change this, and how?