SPACE SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS IN THE 1970'S 3I7 



In his own right, Chairman Miller pioneered in the establishment of 

 of the Science, Research and Development Subcommittee which came 

 to its fullest flower under its first chairman, Congressman Daddario. 

 Miller's deep interest in general science led to the broadening of the 

 charter of the National Science Foundation, the legislation to establish 

 the Office of Technology Assessment, and the movement toward 

 converting the United States to the metric system. 



In 1967, Chairman Miller was awarded the Robert H. Goddard 

 memorial trophy for "his sustained leadership in the formulation and 

 execution of national policy contributing immeasurably to the re- 

 markable accomplishments of the U.S. space effort." Miller's adula- 

 tion for Dr. Goddard, the acknowledged "father of American rock- 

 etry," is indicated by the fact that he arranged to have Goddard's 

 portrait displayed in the main committee room, 2318 Rayburn, al- 

 though the portrait of Representative Overton Brooks, the first 

 chairman of the committee, is conspicuously absent. 



Through Chairman Miller's leadership, the Panel on Science and 

 Technology, begun by Chairman Brooks, was expanded and strength- 

 ened. An additional scientific panel, the Research Management Ad- 

 visory Panel, also worked closely with the Subcommittee on Science, 

 Research and Development and helped broaden the dialogue between 

 scientists and Members of Congress. 



Representative Wayne N. Aspinall (Democrat of Colorado), who 

 served for two years on the Science and Astronautics Committee and 

 later became chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, 

 had this to say about his fellow chairman: 



I have always found George Miller to be understanding and friendly, ready for 

 a light remark when it was in order and for a serious one when it was in order. 



Chairman Miller ran his committee in a quiet and conversational 

 sort of fashion, never flamboyant, given to occasional flashes of 

 petulance or anger but not by nature combative, always unhurried and 

 full of frequently lengthy anecdotes. In 1971, when the House leader- 

 ship decided to make the Science and Astronautics Committee a non- 

 major committee to accommodate members who wanted the chance to 

 serve on an additional committee, some of the higher ranked members 

 like Congressman Karth were angry with Chairman Miller. Miller's 

 defense was that the move was made to accommodate members and to 

 prevent wholesale defections from the committee. In any event, 

 Chairman Miller's agreement was characteristic of his general ap- 

 proach toward both the House leadership (a team-playing spirit of 

 cooperation) and toward his own committee members (to favor and 

 accommodate those committee members who were team players 

 rather than mavericks). 



