1653 



The Academy is a quasi-public scientific advisory group chartered 

 by Congress to provide advice to the Government on matters involv- 

 ing science, technology, research, and development. It is not subject 

 to annual authorization and appropriations oversight. It does prepare 

 annual reports for Congress, but these are generally published several 

 years after the fact. 



Role of Congress 



Post-World War II scientific exchange programs have attracted 

 sustained congressional interest and frequent legislative activit}^ but 

 have not been attended by oversight and evaluation efforts of real 

 depth and persistence. 



Some of the important dates in that history are the following: 



FULBRIGHT-HAYS PROGRAM 



19Jf6 — Adoption of the aforementioned Fulbright amendment to the 

 Surplus Property Act of 1944, authorizing an exchange of scholars to 

 be financed b}' foreign currencies derived from the sale of surplus war 

 materials abroad. 



19^8 — Passage, after long and heated debate on the relationship 

 of educational exchange to foreign policy, of the U.S. Information 

 and Education (Smith -Mundt) Act, Public Law 80-402. ^o* The 

 provisions of this act reflected a desire to maintain a relative inde- 

 pendence of educational and cultural affairs from foreign policy. The 

 foreign policy purpose was served by establishing an information 

 service separate from educational activities. The latter, under the 

 Fulbright program, were strengthened by: 



(1) authorizing some educational exchange in countries other than those whose 

 governments had signed educational exchange agreements; 



(2) enabling Fulbright scholars to receive some supplementary dollar support; 



(3) requiring the State Department to use private organizations wherever 

 possible in carrying out the operations and objectives of the program; 



(4) authorizing the inclusion of technical assistance activities under the concept 

 of educational interchange of persons, knowledge, and skills authorized by the 

 program; and 



(5) further expanding the concept of educational exchange hy authorizing the 

 Secretary of State to support the exchange of educational materials, and to extend 

 grants to American-sponsored schools, libraries, private universities, and other 

 organizations to further the aims of the educational and cultural exchange pro- 

 grams. 



The act also created the Presidentially appointed U.S. Advisory 

 Commission on Educational Exchange to appraise the effectiveness of 

 the exchange program semiannually and recommend legislative 

 improvement. 



195Jf — Adoption of an amendment (Public Law 83-480) to the 

 Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, author- 

 izing U.S.-owTied foreign currencies from any source, including the 

 sale of U.S. agricultural commodities abroad, to finance educational 

 exchange. The amendment was proposed by Senator Fulbright when 

 the earlier source of funds — sales of surplus war materiel — began to 

 dry up. 



1961 — Passage of the Fulbright-Hays act (Mutual Educational and 

 Cultural Exchange Act, Public Law 87-256). This was the original 



203 Ibid., p. 893. 



