First of all, this was a government conference. That makes the incident even worse than when the same thing happens in an academic setting, IMO.

Second, she committed the ultimate heresy in a government setting by insisting that scientific research was needed to validate the effectiveness of government programs.

Good heavens, if we did that, we'd probably find that a good percentage of the programs were a complete waste of money and should be eliminated! Think of all the people who'd be thrown out of work and the useless regulations that could be eliminated if ineffective programs were cut. Oh, the humanity!

However, no government program is ever really a failure. Just as the people responsible, they'll tell you that if they only had more money, they could've made it work. Sure. You betcha.