New accusations of manipulating scientific information and gagging government scientists have arisen amidst the government's consideration of listing polar bears as an endangered species. Memos that censored scientists traveling to countries around the Arctic region and draft reports that were significantly altered in their final form have fueled these concerns. A leaked memo from Richard Hannon, a regional director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, instructs U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials in the Alaska Division to limit their discussions on polar bears and climate change when in Arctic region countries. The memo, reported by the New York Times, specifically states that the officials "will not be speaking on or responding to these issues." Existence of the memo met with outrage and suspicion in Congress as two senior Democratic members demanded more information on the matter. Reps. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Brad Miller (D-NC) demanded in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne that all records on this matter be released to Congress. Gordon is chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, and Miller is chairman of the investigations and oversight subcommittee. The letter expressed concern that the memo "appears to be the latest effort by the Bush Administration to block a full and free discussion of issues relating to climate change by the scientific community." This matter bears striking resemblances to 2006 claims from NASA climatologist James Hansen that a political appointee, ironically in the position of Public Information Officer, attempted to prevent Hansen from being interview by National Public Radio. The matter drew significant public attention, and eventually, the Bush administration had to respond with new disclosure policies. The Government Accountability Project cites the Interior memo in a new report, Redacting the Science of Climate Change, as demonstrative of Interior's attitude toward climate change. The investigative report did not find evidence of any direct interference in climate change research but uncovered "unduly restrictive policies and practices" with respect to communicating information to the media, public and Congress — specifically information that did not support existing administration policy positions. The report stated, "Interference with media communications includes delaying, monitoring, screening, and denying interviews, as well as delay, denial, and inappropriate editing of press releases. Interference with the public and Congress includes inappropriate editing, delay, and suppression of reports and other printed and online material." New concerns have been raised that such communication interference may have occurred in editing a Department of Interior report on the status of polar bears. In December 2006, Interior proposed listing polar bears as endangered because the sea ice they depend on is disappearing. But officials left out of the listing proposal any discussion of the connection between human activity and rising Arctic temperatures that are eliminating the sea ice and stated that the agency had not examined such factors. Yet another agency study, "Range-Wide Status Review of the Polar Bear," published in December 2006 cites several studies on the effects of climate change on sea ice and how reducing greenhouse gas emissions could slow Arctic warming. None of this material made it into the proposal to list polar bears. Instead, the proposal states, "there are few, if any, processes that are capable of altering this trajectory." A decision on listing the polar bear as an endangered species is expected by January 2008.