146 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



I do believe it is important we recognize here in the House that the changes 

 which are being offered are changes which emanate and initiate here in the House. 

 The impetus comes from us, and the recommendations are not those which are 

 summarily sent to us by the executive branch. * * * Mr. Chairman, this legislation 

 was born and raised in the House of Representatives. It is my opinion that it repre- 

 sents the ahilitv of the House of Representatives to meet the challenge of adaptation 

 to the present needs of our society 



As a matter of strategy, Daddano and Mosher were concerned with 

 the fact that Representative Ford, who was then minority leader, 

 habitually opposed the extension of annual authorizing power to 

 House committees, as he had when the Science Committee first received 

 authorizing power over NASA. They knew that Ford, as a long-time 

 former member of the Appropriations Committee, felt that this not only 

 diluted the power of the Appropriations Committee but also delayed the 

 passage of appropriations bills. Yet they felt that from the standpoint 

 of effective oversight, it was vital to obtain annual authorizing power 

 over the National Science Foundation. 



Several confabs among Chairman Miller, Daddano, Mosher, and 

 Yeager finally concluded that Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat 

 of Massachusetts), who chaired the subcommittee handling the issue 

 on the other side of the Capitol, might be interested in inserting this 

 provision into the Senate bill. Since this was Senator Kennedy's only 

 subcommittee, it was reasoned that Senator Kennedy might welcome 

 the opportunity to have such authorizing authority for his subcom- 

 mittee. Accordingly, the House bill which passed on April 12, 1967, by 

 a 391-22 vote was silent on the issue of annual authorizations for NSF. 

 As planned, the Senate included the annual authorization amendment, 

 and the House accepted the Senate version without the necessity for a 

 conference committee. 



Miller talked with Ford on the House floor about the Senate 

 changes, and persuaded him not to oppose the Senate version. Although 

 Ford did not really like the concept, his public reaction was revealed 

 in the following colloquy: 



Mr. Gerald R. Ford. Mr. Speaker, would the chairman of the committee at this 

 point in brief terms explain what the Senate amendments do? 



Mr. Miller. The Senate amendments are procedural. The only amendment that 

 is important is, this will set up authorization for the National Science Foundation and 

 will give to the Committee on Science and Astronautics the right to review annual 

 requests for authorization legislation, something which the committee long felt 

 should be done 



Mr. Gerald R. Ford. May I ask one other question. The annual authorization 

 requirement does, I think give to the legislative committee new responsibility, but 

 with that new responsibility comes the need and necessity for prompt action on the 

 annual program of the agency. Can we have the assurance of the committee that the 

 annual authorization legislation will be handled promptly at the beginning of each 

 session? 



