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of centralized risk analysis, to be directed by National Science 

 Foundation's National Science Board. 



June 25, 1981: James M. Beggs, former executive Vice President of 

 General Dynamics Corporation, was confirmed as the Adminis- 

 trator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 



July 24, 1981: The Senate confirmed George A. Keyworth as direc- 

 tor of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Keyworth 

 had been the physics division leader at the Los Alamos National 

 Laboratory. 



July 27, 1981: The Senate Committee on Labor and Human Re- 

 sources, Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse held hear- 

 ings to examine research programs at the National Institute on 

 Alcoholic Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Insti- 

 tute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The subcommittee also examined 

 the need for social science research on substance abuse, and the 

 merits of transferring the NIAAA and NIDA to the National In- 

 stitutes of Health. 



August 10, 1981: The National Research Council of the National 

 Academy of Sciences approved changing the name of the Com- 

 mittee on Science and Public Policy (COSPUP), to the Committee 

 on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP). The com- 

 mittee is charged "to deliberate on initiatives for new studies in 

 the area of science and technology policy, taking especially into 

 account the concerns and requests of the President's science ad- 

 viser, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the 

 Chairman of key science and technology-related committees of 

 the Congress." 



August 13, 1981: Public Law 97-34, the Economic Recovery Tax Act 

 of 1981, was signed into law. This law implemented a research 

 and development tax credit and a tax deduction for charitable 

 donations of R&D equipment to universities designed to stimulat- 

 ed R&D. The law also provided for a 25 percent tax credit for the 

 increase in a firm's qualified R&D costs above the average ex- 

 penditure for the previous three tax years. 



September 23, 1981: S. 1657 (H.R. 4564), the Uniform Science and 

 Technology Research and Development Utilization Act, was in- 

 troduced to establish and maintain a uniform Federal policy for 

 the management and use of the results of federally sponsored sci- 

 ence and technology research and development. The Act would 

 have directed the Secretary of Commerce to coordinate, direct, 

 and review the implementation and administration of this policy 

 through consultation with Federal agencies and departments. 

 (H.R. 4564 was companion to S. 1657.) 



December 10, 1981: The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investiga- 

 tions of the House Committee on Science and Technology began 

 hearings on the effects of the Reagan Administration's budget 

 policies on the long-term health of U.S. science and technology. 

 Presidential science adviser, Dr. George Keyworth, testified that 

 the Reagan Administration's research and development policies 

 are tied to economic and national security issues. Dr. Keyworth 

 also testified that the U.S. could no longer expect or afford to be 

 world preeminent in all fields of science. He stated that, com- 

 pared to basic research, "there is less justification for a Federal 

 Government role in applied research and development, except in 



