49 



ELLIOTT COMMITTEE 



In response to these growing concerns within Congress, Repre- 

 sentative Carl Y. Elliott, Democrat of Alabama, introduced a reso- 

 lution to create a select committee to look into the nation's science 

 policy. Elliott's resolution gained wide support, and on 11 Septem- 

 ber 1963, the House of Representatives created the Select Commit- 

 tee on Government Research with the charge of reviewing the Fed- 

 eral Government's research programs housed in some nine execu- 

 tive departments and 12 agencies. 26 The Committee was to exam- 

 ine: 



(1) the overall total amount of annual expenditures on re- 

 search programs; (2) what departments and agencies of the 

 Government are conducting research and at what costs; (3) 

 the amounts being expended by the various agencies and 

 departments in grants and contracts for research to col- 

 leges, private industry, and every form of student scholar- 

 ships; (4) what facilities, if any, exist for coordinating the 

 various and sundry research programs, including grants to 

 colleges and universities as well as scholarship grants. 27 



The Committee was also to investigate the sensitive political ques- 

 tion of the geographical distribution of funds for university re- 

 search. Elliott was appointed chairman of the Committee, and 

 membership was composed of ranking members from those stand- 

 ing committees with jurisdiction over Federal research and devel- 

 opment activities. Hearings were held in November-December 1963 

 and January 1964, 2S while the Committee staff oversaw the prepa- 

 ration of ten major reports, the last of which was published at the 

 end of the 88th Congress. 29 Although the Committee's purpose was 

 not legislative in intent, it submitted over 40 specific recommenda- 

 tions. 30 



One of the most far-reaching recommendations of the Select 

 Committee on Government Research was the proposal to create a 



26 Members of the Select Committee on Government Research included Democrats Carl Y. El- 

 liott (Chairman), John F. Fogarty, George P. Miller, Melvin Price, and Phil M. Landrum, and 

 Republicans Clarence J. Brown (Ranking Minority Member), John B. Anderson, James C. Cleve- 

 land, and Patrick Minor Martin. 



27 House Resolution 504, submitted on 27 August 1963, considered and agreed to on 11 Sep- 

 tember 1963. 



28 See U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Government Research of the House of Representa- 

 tives, Federal Research and Development Programs (88th Congress, 2nd session, parts 1-3. Wash- 

 ington: GPO, 1964). 



29 The ten major studies submitted by the Elliott Committee included: Administration of Re- 

 search and Development Grants, Manpower for Research and Development, Federal Facilities for 

 Research and Development, Documentation and Dissemination of Research and Development Re- 

 sults, Federal Student Assistance in Higher Education, Impact of Federal Research and Develop- 

 ment Programs, Contract Policies and Procedures for Research and Development, Interagency Co- 

 ordination in Research and Development, Statistical Review of Research and Development, and 

 National Goals and Policies. These studies were all issued in 1964 by the Select Committee on 

 Government Research of the House of Representatives (88th Congress, 2nd session). Part II of 

 Study Number X, Staff Resume of the Activities of the Select Committee on Government Re- 

 search, was published in 1965 (89th Congress, 1st session), and contains background material on 

 the overall study and summaries of the ten reports. 



30 These recommendations are spread throughout the ten substantive studies, but are summa- 

 rized in Staff Resume, pp. 19-27. Elliott was defeated in the 1964 Alabama primary, and the 

 Select Committee — which required reestablishment with each new Congress — was disbanded in 

 the 89th Congress as no Committee member stepped forward to assume the vacant chairman- 

 ship. 



