The head of the Senate Environment Committee lambasted the White House on Thursday for removing sections of draft testimony addressing climate change because the administration thought it conflicted with the findings of a U.N. report.

Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is voicing outrage after revelations that the Bush administration removed large portions of draft testimony on the health impacts of global warming, delivered Oct. 23 by Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Democrats have frequently criticized the White House for allegedly watering down scientific reports on climate change.

“This administration wants to downplay the threat that global warming poses to the American people,” Boxer said Thursday.

Documents obtained by the Environment and Public Works Committee show that an earlier draft of Gerberding’s testimony was almost twice as long. The final draft omitted details about how climate change would probably have “a significant impact on health,” citing areas such as heat-related illness, extreme weather events, air pollution and allergic diseases.

The White House Office of Management and Budget routinely reviews and edits testimony that members of the administration deliver to Congress. The final draft mainly described how CDC was preparing to respond to possible health effects of climate change.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Oct. 24 the changes were necessary because the draft was inconsistent with a recent report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“This is a study that the United States largely funded, and that we embraced in its conclusions,” Perino said. “As I understand it, in the draft there was broad characterizations about climate-change science that didn’t align with the IPCC.”

But Boxer released side-by-side comparisons of the IPCC report and Gerberding’s draft testimony, maintaining that the two were indeed consistent. For example, the IPCC report said global warming could worsen air pollution and increase asthma cases in children.

Boxer sent a letter to President Bush on Oct. 24 asking for copies of drafts that CDC sent to the White House and records of comments from the Executive Office of the President and the vice president’s office.

“Written testimony routinely undergoes multiple levels of review and is edited and revised, often multiple times, as part of the interagency review process,” Gerberding said in a statement. “It is important to note that the edits made to the written testimony document did not alter or affect my messages to the Senate committee.

“I was perfectly happy with the testimony I gave to the committee, and was very pleased for the opportunity to have a frank and candid discussion with the Senate committee on the public health issues associated with climate change.”