538 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



compelling; it was also successfully argued that oversight might 

 actually be more thorough if one year could be concentrated on author- 

 ization and the second strictly on oversight. In 1978, Congress finally 

 agreed to test the two-year authorization concept for NSF in 1979 and 

 1980. 



NSF AUTHORIZATION HEARINGS IN 1978 



The subcommittee whipped through the NSF authorization in 

 four lengthy days. For three of the four, Chairman Thornton turned the 

 gavel over to Harkin, and Thornton himself chaired the windup hear- 

 ing. Brown and Hollenbeck also played active roles in the questioning. 

 Although the budget request for NSF reached a new high of $940.9 

 million, Hollenbeck observed: 



I, for one, am disappointed by the President's requested budget for basic research. 

 Close examination reveals that it represents incrementalism camouflaged by inflation. 

 * * * Why do we support basic research and science education? Perhaps partly to 

 lay the foundations for increasing the stock of technical knowledge with which to 

 insure continued prosperity in an era of limited resources; partly, to assist in the 

 achievement of national security; and partly because, like art and music, they are 

 cultural activities essential to man's identity without which we are little more than 

 Diogenes' plucked chicken, the cynic's version of Plato's man. 



Mr. Chairman, in Mr. Harkin's opening remarks last week, he observed that 

 "basic research is an important cultural activity without which the spirit of man 

 would be impoverished regardless of material consequences. It is unfortunate," he 

 continued, "that last fact by itself is insufficient to win strong support for basic 

 research." 



I would concur with that, and further add that the material consequence of 

 famished spirits will be impoverishment. It will require a great leap of imagination 

 to see the possibilities bevond the problems of energy, population, and the 

 environment. 



Led bv Harkin, several members during the hearings stressed once 

 again that science education deserved a higher priority than a 4.9- 

 percent increase. In its markup session, one of the first decisions the 

 subcommittee made was to boost an allocation of $77.6 million in 

 this area to $82 million -thus making the net increase 10.8 percent 

 over the prior year. With Harkin presiding over the subcommittee 

 markup on Februarv 21, neither the staff nor any member threw down 

 the gauntlet to challenge the nascent science-for-citizens program 

 which had stirred so much opposition in the past. 



On March 8, Harkin also presented the report to the full commit- 

 tee, asking for a modest $400,000 increase over NSF's budget. In some 

 areas, like deep-sea drilling, the committee recommended cuts and 

 emphasized the need for balance between "little science" and "big 

 science." Rudd once again offered a series of amendments with re- 

 ductions in various programs, but the committee in all cases sustained 

 the subcommittee. 



