76 



two-year science policy study to be undertaken during the 99th 

 Congress. 21 Only the Bush and Steelman reports of the mid-1940s 

 and the Elliott and Daddario reports of the mid-1960s matched the 

 comprehensive scope of the proposed Task Force study. According 

 to the Task Force's Agenda: 



The last major Congressional review of American sci- 

 ence policy took place in the mid-sixties, almost twenty 

 years ago. Since that time, the relationship between sci- 

 ence and government has undergone a number of signifi- 

 cant changes, and there is every indication that further 

 changes in that relationship are in prospect. In addition, 

 the wider environment in which both government and sci- 

 ence must function is expected to change in ways that will 

 affect both science and the science-government relation- 

 ship. 



It is therefore timely that the Science and Technology 

 Committee conduct a careful review of American science 

 policy. Such a review will enable the members of the Com- 

 mittee, and the wider membership of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives, to discharge their legislative and oversight re- 

 sponsibilities on the basis of a deeper understanding of 

 past policies, present problems, and future needs and 

 choices. 22 



The broad agenda established by the Science Policy Task Force 

 reflected the wide range of issues that faced science policymakers 

 in the 1980s. Many of these issues had, of course, been debated, in 

 one form or another, since 1945. The quality of science education, 

 especially at the post-secondary levels, and how it relates to the 

 future workforce of scientists and engineers had been an issue out- 

 lined in the Bush Report and recurred in the aftermath of Sputnik. 

 International cooperation became an issue again in the 1980s 

 during discussions of sharing resources, both monetary and facili- 

 ties, for such "Big Science" projects as particle accelerators and as- 

 tronomical observatories. The growing concern over the state of re- 

 search facilities at university and Government laboratories was 

 closely linked to the ongoing scientific instrumentation question. 

 As Government regulation for health and safety increased — much 

 of it justified by new scientific data on risk or hazards — the scien- 

 tific community became involved in the regulatory system and 

 many researchers began to question the criteria for the use of sci- 

 ence and technical experts in regulation. The growth in Govern- 

 ment controls over the conduct and dissemination of research 

 raised, in often a confrontational manner, issues of self-regulation 

 and the role of the public in research that had been hinted at in 

 the Bush and Steelman reports. And finally, debates over the ex- 

 pansion of large-scale university-industry cooperation brought to 

 the forefront issues that had surfaced decades before. 23 



21 See U.S. Congress, House Committee on Science and Technology, Task Force on Science 

 Policy, An Agenda for a Study of Government Science Policy (98th Congress, 2nd session. Wash- 

 ington: GPO, 1985). 



22 Ibid., p. 1. 



23 See ibid.; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on 

 Science, Research and Technology, Impact of National Security Considerations on Science and 



Continued 



