The subcommittee met at 2 p.m. in room S-126, the Capitol, Hon. Ernest F. Hollings (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Hollings and Stevens. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT (OTA) BUDGET REQUEST Senator HOLLINGS. The subcommittee will please come to order. This afternoon, the subcommittee will consider the 1975 budget estimates of the Office of Technology Assessment. The amount in the budget is $5 million, an increase of $3 million over the amount included in last year's bill to initiate this new arm of the Congress that was created by Public Law 92-484. CORRESPONDENCE The House of Representatives has provided $3.5 million in their version of the bill for the OTA, or $1.5 million less than the budget estimate. I have received a letter from Senator Kennedy, the Chairman of the Board of the Office of Technology Assessment, with regard to the action of the House, in which he states that it is essential that OTA's programs be funded at the requested $5 million level. Senator Kennedy also asks that language inserted by the House be retained that would merge any unobligated 1974 balances into the 1975 appropriation, and allow the 1975 appropriation to remain available until expended. Without objection, the letter and the justification materials will be made part of the record at this point. [The material follows:] Hon. ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, Chairman, Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: On behalf of the Office of Technology Assessment Board, I submit herewith the fiscal year 1975 Justification of Estimates for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). Our 1975 appropriation request is in the amount of $5,000,000. OTA has commenced operations this fiscal year (1974) (547) with a part-year, start-up appropriation of $2,000,000. In order to permit carefully screened and phased use of this year's start-up funds, it is requested that appropriation language be inserted in FY 1975 to provide that funds remaining unobligated as of June 30, 1974, shall be merged with and also available for the general purposes of the Fiscal Year 1975 appropriations. The House approved this request, and also provided the Office with funding for FY 1975 without an annual limitation. We request that your Subcommittee recommend retention of these appropriation provisions as passed by the House. The House approved our FY 75 appropriation at a level of $3.5 million, a reduction of $1.5 million below our request. It is essential that OTA's programs be funded at the requested $5 million level, in addition to the unobligated balance which may remain as of June 30, 1974. The Office has received numerous requests for assessments from Committees of the Congress to be performed during FY 1974, FY 1975 and beyond, and is receiving additional requests every week. The requests far exceed OTA's available and requested funds. The Board is considering each committee request, and has approved assessments in the areas of food, energy, oceans, materials, health and transportation. Attached is the detail concerning our estimates which explains the manner in which OTA plans the use of FY 1975 funds. Our FY 1975 request is the minimum amount feasible in view of programs approved by the OTA Board and the expected workload of the Office. We will be glad to respond to any questions you may have concerning our request when we appear to testify before your Subcommittee. Sincerely, EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Chairman. INTRODUCTION OF WITNESSES AND ASSOCIATES We are pleased to have with us to testify to this request the distinguished Chairman of the OTA Board, the Honorable Edward M. Kennedy; the Vice Chairman of the Board, Representative Charles R. Mosher; the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment, Emilio Q. Daddario; and the Deputy Director, Daniel V. DeSimone. OTA ADVISORY COUNCIL The OTA Advisory Council is holding its fourth meeting today here in the Capitol, and we have invited them to take part in our discussions this afternoon, and I want to identify the members of this distinguished group: The Chairman, Dr. Harold Brown, president of California Institute of Technology; The Vice Chairman, Dr. Edward Wenk, Jr., director, program in the social management of technology, University of Washington; Mr. J. Fred Bucy, executive vice president, Texas Instruments, Inc.; Mrs. Hazel Henderson, author and lecturer on environmental and social issues, Princeton, N.J.; Mr. J. M. (Levi) Leathers, executive vice president, Dow Chemical Corp; Dr. John McAllister, Jr., associate professor, Department of Engineering-Economic Systems, Stanford University; Dr. Eugene P. Odum, director, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia; Dr. Frederick C. Robbins, dean, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (Nobel laureate); Mr. Elmer Staats, Comptroller General of the United States; Dr. Gilbert F. White, director, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado; Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner, president, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Mr. Lester S. Jayson, Director, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD M. KENNEDY, U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS PREPARED STATEMENTS AND ATTACHMENT Senator HOLLINGS. Senator Kennedy, please proceed with your opening statement. Senator KENNEDY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would like to file my prepared statement, and related attachments, for the record. [The prepared statement and attachments follow:] STATEMENT OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY, CHAIRMAN OF THE OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT BOARD, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS ON FISCAL YEAR 1975 BUDGET ESTIMATES Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Board of the Office of Technology Assessment, I want to thank you and the other members of the Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations for affording us the opportunity to testify today in support of Fiscal Year 1975 appropriation for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). This Office was created by the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-484) which was signed into law on October 13, 1972. The Office receives overall guidance from a joint Congressional Board, consisting of six Senators and six House Members, along with a non-voting director of the Office appointed by the Congressional Board Members. The Board is completely nonpartisan, with six Democrats and six Republicans. In keeping with this spirit, the Board elected as its Vice Chairman, Charles R. Mosher of Ohio. The members, who have been appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, reflect all regions of the Nation and all political points of view. In addition to the Chairman and Vice Chairman, the members are. Senators Ernest F. Hollings, South Carolina; Hubert H. Humphrey, Minnesota; Clifford P. Case, New Jersey; Richard S. Schweiker, Pennsylvania ; and Ted Stevens, Alaska; and Representatives John W. Davis, Georgia; Olin E. Teague, Texas; Morris K. Udall, Arizona; Charles S. Gubser, California; and Marvin L. Esch, Michigan. The statutory requirement for an absolute majority of the Board to approve any recommendation to the Congress assures the nonpartisan, objective character of its recommendations. The purpose of the Office is to provide Congress with its own technical expertise in evaluating legislative proposals involving significant technical issues of National concern. Over the past two decades the Executive Branch's capability in science and technology has grown immensely, while the ability of Congress to evaluate such programs has not been able to keep pace. Thus in recent years we have witnessed great controversies over the technical facts involved in programs such as the SST, the Space shuttle, the use of chemical pesticides, and food and drug additives, the impact on human health of air pollution and waste disposal, not to mention the enormous number of questions regarding the current energy crisis and an impending world wide shortage of food. In such cases, the Congress has not had a reliable source of technical expertise on which it could draw to provide an indeendent technical appraisal of the various alternatives under consideration. OTA has been established to meet that kind of need. The Office is intended to serve the various committees of the House and Senate, upon the request of their respective chairmen or their ranking minority members acting through their chairmen. It is a technical service organization for the Congress. Since the appointment of Emilio Q. Daddario as Director, Daniel V. De Simone as Deputy Director and other employees, the Office has received numerous requests for assessments from standing committees of the Congress. The requests received to date have been summarized and are attached. In addition to its Congressional Board, OTA also consists of a citizen Advisory Council composed of ten distinguished individuals from the private sector: Dr. Harold Brown, Chairman, TAAC, President, California Institute of Technology; Dr. Edward Wenk, Jr., Vice Chairman, TAAC, President, Director, Program in the Social Management of Technology, University of Washington; Mr. J. Fred Bucy, Executive Vice President, Texas Instruments, Inc.; Mrs. Hazel Henderson, autor and lecturer on environmental and social issues, Princeton, New Jersey; Mr. J. M. (Levi) Leathers, Executive Vice President, Dow Chemical; Dr. John McAlister, Jr., Associate Professor, Department of EngineeringEconomic Systems, Stanford University; Dr. Eugene P. Odum, Director, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia; Dr. Frederick C. Robbins, Dean, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (Nobel Laureate); Dr. Gilbert F. White, Director, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado; and Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Also on the Advisory Council are two ex officio members: Hon. Elmer B. Staats, Comptroller General of the United States and Mr. Lester S. Jayson, Director, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. This Advisory Council is an important advisory resource in the assessment activities of OTA and will be called upon to assist in the development and review of OTA programs. In addition to Congressional interest in the office, Executive Branch departments and agencies have indicated many critical assessment issues facing the government in general, (these are also summarized in the attachment). Also, many scientific and technical organizations, industrial organizations and firms, and environmental and citizens' groups have expressed their interest in the new office or offered to assist it in carrying out its mission. As of this date, the OTA Board has approved assessment in six areas: food, energy, oceans, materials resources, transportation and health. The Board is meeting bi-weekly to insure that implementation of the work plans in these areas proceeds smoothly and expeditiously. An assessment has been started in health regarding the bioequivalence of drugs, and assessments are in the process of being implemented in the other five areas. The Board's approach to OTA's initial operation is to assure that the assessments are performed in a timely manner producing products for use by the Congressional committees concerned. We are also seeking to focus OTA's efforts into a limited number of priority areas where there is a prospect of using the initial products in further studies, and of getting dividends between the various areas examined, for example, the inter-relationship of the areas of food and oceans; and energy production from the outer continental shelf and oceans. OTA is a new and vital tool for better policy making by the Congress. Compared with the Federal spending in many of the areas examined, the cost is miniscule, for example, OTA's expenditure of $1.5–2 million in the energy area in the next year and a half is one tenth of one percent of proposed Federal expenditures for energy research and development in FY 75. Indeed, it is our judgment that the OTA appropriation request for FY 75 should be greater by as much as three to five million dollars if it is to meet the need for its services. The estimates in this budget have been prepared by the OTA staff to be consistent with the budget estimate for OTA in the President's budget submission to Congress. Rather than request an amendment to the budget at this time, the Board intends to give the matter close examination in the next few months, and submit a supplemental request when appropriate. Mr. Chairman, I believe that recent events have indicated to Members of both Houses the need to strengthen the Congress to meet its responsibilities, now and in the decades ahead. The Office of Technology Assessment will become a vital resource to assist the Congress in achieving that goal. The Board has approved the first areas for assessment, and the office is initiating the actions to perform them in an expeditious manner. We respectfully ask this committee to provide us with adequate resources to satisfy the urgent needs that have been expressed to us by the committees of the Congress. I appreciate the opportunity to appear here. I would be happy to respond to any questions you may have, and after I am finished I know a number of my fellow Board members would like to add their testimony in support of this request. CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS FOR TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENTS BY ISSUE AND COMMITTEE 1. Agricultural information system. 2. Food technology. Requesting Committee FOOD House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Thomas E. Morgan, Chairman. Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Herman E. Talmadge, Chairman and Hubert Humphrey, Subcommittee on Foreign Agriculture, Chairman. ENERGY 1. Energy reference system (Information). 2. Energy research and development options. 3. Technological development options and impact on employment. 4. Solar energy-photothermal, collectors, cells, relay satellites, power satellites. 5. Energy conservation. 6. Nuclear safety. 7. Recycling impact on energy needs. 8. Alternate sources of energy for automobiles. 9. Daylight savings time. 10. Synthetic fuels from coal. Requesting Committee House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Olin E. Teague, Chairman and Charles A. Mosher, Ranking Minority Member. Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Frank E. Moss, Chairman, and Barry Goldwater, Ranking Minority Member. Senate Committee on Commerce, Chairman, Warren G. Magnuson, request supported by Senator Clifford P. Case, Technology Assessment Board. OCEANS 1. Policy for outer continental shelf. 2. Technology of offshore oil drilling. 3. Technology of fishing industry. 4. Deep sea port. 5. Ocean mining. 6. Weather modification. 7. Aquaculture. 8. Food from the sea. Requesting Committee House Committee on Judiciary, Chairman, Peter W. Rodino. Senate Committee on Commerce, Chairman, Warren G. Magnuson and Ernest F. Hollings, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oceans and Atmosphere. 1. Drug bioequivalence. 2. Mutagenic testing. Requesting Committee HEALTH Technology Assessment Board, Chairman, Edward M. Kennedy, Senate Committee on Commerce, Chairman Warren G. Magnuson. MATERIALS Research and Development Options. Requesting Committee House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Chairman Olin Teague and Charles A. Mosher, Ranking Minority Member. |