RACHEL CARSON: A Crusading Environmentalist Carson testifying before President Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee Carsons' book had ramifications far beyond the media battle. At a 1962 press conference President Kennedy responded to a reporter's query about whether he would be asking for an investigation into the possible long-term effects of DDT and other pesticides with: "Yes, and I know they already are. I think particularly, of course, since Miss Carson's book." Carson testified before a Congressional committee after the the President's Science Advisory Committee report, "The Use of Pesticides" was released. The report echoed many of Carson's concerns and called for decreased use of toxic chemicals. In her testimony Carson called for the creation of a "Pesticide Commission within the Executive Department" — fulfilled by the EPA.