1013 



The high costs mvolved in maintaining a smooth exchange 

 program; and 



Evidences that scientific exchanges may lay the groundwork 



for closer bilateral cooperation in science and in solving political 



disputes. 



It is also observed that little information is made public about these 



programs. Were better information provided, program administrators 



and the Congress might be better able to assist in establishing the 



appropriate priorities needed to advance both shorts and long-range 



cooperation and in advising the executive branch as to the appropriate 



mix between programs for governmental vs. nongovernmental scientific 



exchange and cooperation.*^^ Commenting on this point with respect 



to the new bilateral accords, the Hon. Mc George Bundy noted to the 



Congress that: 



If these agreements are to fulfill their promise, they vvill need the understanding 

 and support of the public and the Congress, as well as the executive branch . . . 

 which will necessarily and closely engage both [the House Science and Astronautics 

 Committee — specifically the Subcommittee on International Cooperation in 

 Science and Space] and others with responsibilities for authorization and appro- 

 priations. . . . Active cooperation is much more expensive than technical and 

 cultural exchanges, and where there is a new level of cost there must be a new level 

 of congressional engagement. . . . The more serious and substantial these processes 

 of cooperation become the more there is the requirement for effective engagement 

 of appropriate Members or committees of Congress, so that they know what is 

 going on in time to have an input, and they're not simply confronted with a fait 

 accompli at what might be an inconvenient point.*" 



*!* Another study in this series contained similar observations with respect to the need for closer collabora- 

 tion bptwopn the executive and lepislative branches, but with respect to trade agreemrnts; ". . . As knowl- 

 edge of which of the alternatives will prevail may not be evident for several years, very careful official and 

 publicscrutiny of each step in the progress of the Joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. Commercial Commission discussions 

 would appear to be in order for both the executive and legislative branches." (Italics in original.) (From: 

 V.S.-f^ovitt Commercial Relatiom: The InUrplay of Economics, Technology Transfer, and Diplomacy, op. 

 cit. See vol. I, p. 606. 



«« U.S.-U.S.S.R. Cooperative Agreements: Report, op. cit., p. 12. 



