566 HISTORY OF I MI COMMITTE1 ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



Davis explained that the committee had jurisdiction over the 

 National Bureau of Standards, which originally administered iire 

 research. 



As a matter of fact, in 1970 Chairman Miller set up a Special Sub- 

 committee on the National Bureau of Standards, giving the chair- 

 manship to Davis at a time when Daddario was still serving as chair- 

 man of the Science Subcommittee. One of the major products of the 

 special Davis subcommittee was a report on "A Program for the Fire 

 Research and Safety Act" which was published after a one-day hearing 

 by the subcommittee on April 22, 1970. Dr. Lewis M. Branscomb, 

 Director of the National Bureau of Standards, told the Davis sub- 

 committee how his Bureau had become involved in the issue in the 

 first place. It seems that back in 1904, when 70 blocks of downtown 

 Baltimore were gutted by fire, equipment from miles around — even 

 as far as New York City^came to help, only to find that their hoses 

 could not be connected to the Baltimore hydrants because there were 

 no accepted standards for the diameter and screw thread of the cou- 

 plings. Standards of interchangeability were then put into effect. 



The Fire Research and Safety Act, which was developed by the 

 Science Committee in 1968, added new responsibilities to the Bureau 

 of Standards for fire research. But the 1968 act at first was funded at 

 the ridiculously low level of $300,000 a year. In addition, the 1970 

 bill contemplated not only further investigation of the causes and 

 prevention of fires, but also public information on lire hazards, educa- 

 tion and training programs for professional firefighters, and demonstra- 

 tion programs. The full committee cleared the bill for further action 

 July 9, 1970, but the Rules Committee turned a deaf ear toward re- 

 quests for a hearing. Chairman Miller confessed to the full committee. 



We are a little slow because we are slow in getting hold of some of chese things. 

 We are coming in now where we should have done this maybe two or three years ago. 



LOW PRIORITY TREATMENT 



Interest in fire research and safety was slightly greater in 1971, 

 as the subcommittee held additional hearings on a bill which was 

 expanded to include establishment of a Fire Research and Safety Center. 

 The Presidentially-appointed National Commission on Fire Prevention 

 and Control, authorized by the 1968 act started operating in 1971. 

 Miller and Representative Jerry L. Pettis (Republican of California) 

 were the congressional Members appointed to the Commission. Davis 

 was later appointed. The Bureau of Standards budget was increased 

 to allow for a little over SI million in 1971 for tire research work. 



The subcommittee hearing in 1 9T 1 was terribly short— less than 

 an hour in length on one day and the feeling of the subcommittee did 

 not appear to be overwhelmingly enthusiastic. It was more like a 



