HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE OX SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



The charter of the select committee was simply and directly 



stated : 



The select committee is authorized and directed to conduct a thorough and 

 complete study and investigation with respect to all aspects and problems relating 

 to the exploration of outer space and the control, development, and use of 

 astionautical resources, personnel, equipment, and facilities. 



Once the reading of the brief resolution was finished, it passed 

 unanimously after only one very brief exchange. Republican leader and 

 former Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., who was subsequently appointed 

 vice chairman of the select committee, asked and received an affirmative 

 answer to only one question: Whether the new committee was gen- 

 erally similar in nature to the Senate committee. 



The creation of the select committee was the most important 

 single action by the Congress leading to the establishment of the House 

 Committee on Science and Astronautics and the present Committee on 

 Science and Technologv. 



In designating Majority Leader McCormack as the chairman of 

 the select committee, Speaker Rayburn made one of his wisest deci- 

 sions. Spurred by McCormack's imaginative leadership, the new com- 

 mittee immediately plunged into a comprehensive series of public 

 hearings which laid the foundation for the Nation's space policy. 



ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE 



During the spring and summer of 1958, the select committee 

 worked at a frantic pace. Three important goals were achieved: 



(1) Chartering the permanent House Committee on Science and 

 Astronautics, with an expanded jurisdiction covering science as 

 well as space; 



(2) The writing of the Space Act, setting up the National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration; and 



(3) Landmark hearings and special committee reports which 

 helped shape the course of the Nation's space program in the 

 crucial year of 1958. 



WHAT LED TO THE CREATION OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE? 



In 1958, the Congress seized the initiative. The legislative branch, 

 the people's sounding board, responded quickly and decisively. Mean- 

 while, the executive branch was divided and sounded an uncertain 

 trumpet. 



The beep-beep of the Soviet Sputnik I, launched on October 4, 

 1957, sent Shockwaves through the American public. Surprise, fear, 

 humiliation, and anger were intensified less than a month later when 



