Ill 



support research on the social causes of alcohol abuse and alco- 

 holism. 



March 25, 1980: H.R. 6910 was introduced. It proposed the estab- 

 lishment of the National Technology Foundation to foster com- 

 munication between scientific and technological agencies of the 

 Federal Government and the small business community; operate 

 programs of grants for the development of high technology; and 

 collect, analyze, and publish information concerning grants and 

 contracts awarded to small businesses. The act called for reorga- 

 nization of several Federal agencies which would comprise the 

 actual Foundation. 



May 12, 1980: The National Science Foundation released its first 

 Five Year Outlook on science and technology, to the President, as 

 required by the National Science and Technology Policy, Organi- 

 zation and Priorities Act of 1976. 



May 14, 1980: The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 

 became the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) 

 as a result of the Department of Education Organization Act, 

 Public Law 96-88, October 17, 1979. 



July 17, 1980: The Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Re- 

 search, Development, and Demonstration Act was signed into 

 law (Public Law 96-310). The Act set ambitious goals for OTEC 

 development, including operation of an OTEC demonstration 

 plant by 1986, an average cost of OTEC-generated electricity or 

 energy product equivalent that is competitive in the mid-1990s 

 with the cost of conventional energy sources in the U.S. Gulf 

 Coast region and U.S. insular areas, and an installed (OTEC) ca- 

 pacity or energy product equivalent of 10,000 megawatts by the 



^ year 2000. 



September 9, 1980: The House Committee on Science and Technolo- 

 gy, Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology, began 

 five days of hearings on H.R. 6910, the proposed National Tech- 

 nology Foundation. 



September 23, 1980: John B. Slaughter was confirmed as the new 

 Director of the National Science Foundation. 



October 7, 1980: The Magnetic Fusion Engineering Act of 1980 

 (Public Law 96-386) was signed into law. The Act set ambitious 

 goals for fusion development, including operating of a fusion en- 

 gineering device by 1990 and a magnetic fusion demonstration 

 plant by the end of the 20th century. 



October 15, 1980: Public Law 96-461, provided authorizations for 

 fiscal years 1981 and 1982 for the Department of Commerce, in- 

 cluding the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). This Act repre- 

 sents the beginning of annual authorization bills for the NBS, for 

 the first time since its establishment. 



October 21, 1980: Enactment of Public Law 96-479, the National 

 Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 

 1980. The Act required the President to submit to Congress a 

 plan to provide a suitable mechanism for the following: materials 

 policy analysis and decision-making capability witl *n the Execu- 

 tive Office of the President; continuing long-range analysis of 

 materials used to meet national security needs, as well as to pro- 

 vide for economic, industrial and social needs; assessment of the 

 adequacy and stability of materials supplies, and the industrial 



