SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, 1970-79 569 



have set back and done nothing about it. We have done and are trying to do some- 

 thing about it. * * * It is easy to tell us — all the statistics you have given us here we 

 have from the hearing on our bill. * * * So I applaud you for the vigor that you are 

 showing here, but I do want you to know that, in spite of how you feel about it 

 from some of the implications of your statement, some of your colleagues in Congress 

 arc conversant with it and have been trying to do something about it during the last 

 five years. 



Moshcr smoothed things over by commenting: 



I think our colleague from Connecticut has presented some very dramatic and 

 convincing testimony as a keynote for these hearings. 



Miller quickly demonstrated that he was completely bipartisan 

 in his treatment. When Subcommittee Chairman Davis suggested that 

 in Atlanta, a useful fire test had been conducted in an abandoned hotel 

 and more such tests should be carried out, Miller shot back: 



It is all right to get up and preach about these things, hut can you get the money 

 to actually do it? 



Goldwater, on behalf of himself and five California Republican 

 colleagues, testified on October 11 in favor of use of satellites by NASA 

 to spot and more effectively fight forest fires. He suggested NASA 

 should concentrate its expertise on fire-resistant clothing, breathing 

 apparatus, and communications equipment for firemen. Most of these 

 recommendations were carried out as NASA extended its spinoffs 

 for the benefit of all mankind. 



"AMERICA BURNING" 



During the 93d Congress in 1973 and 1974, the committee activity 

 on fire research and safety was considerably expanded. Over 85 bills 

 on fire safety were introduced at the opening of the 93d Congress, all 

 being referred to the Science Committee. Davis introduced his own bill, 

 with 24 bipartisan cosponsors, on March 14. The Davis bill set up a 

 U.S. Fire Academy and also a Fire Research and Safety Center within 

 the Bureau of Standards. Scarcely had the ink dried on the Davis print 

 when intensive lobbying started on Capitol Hill. The National 

 Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, with encouragement 

 from local firefighters throughout the Nation, had more grandiose 

 ideas about what should go into a bill. The Commission was just 

 completing a dramatic report, to be entitled, "America Burning," 

 which unveiled a broad new program to be placed in a new U.S. Fire 

 Administration within the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- 

 ment. The annual spending level was set at $15 million — an unheard-of 

 high level of concentration at that time. 



The Fire Commission began contacting committee members to 

 ask them to hold up on the Davis bill until completion of the Com- 



