-790 HISTORY OF 1111 COMMITTE1 ON SCIENCI AND TECHNOLOGY 



of hearings in June and September 1977 on "Future Needs and Op- 

 portunities of the Air Traffic Control System." The 711-page record 

 of the hearings quickly revealed the biases of the witnesses: The FAA 

 and the air traffic controllers themselves continued to favor a ground- 

 controlled system; pilots leaned toward more pilot participation in 

 the process; industry supported more application of new technology; 

 and some users feared mandatory equipment requirements. In trans- 

 mitting a final report on his subcommittee's work in this area, Milford 

 commented: 



Recent advances in sophisticated computer, satellite and avionics technology 

 offei great potential for vast improvements upon the present system. However, 

 there seems to be a lack of a concentrated effort to thoroughly examine many of 

 these potentials. 



Milford concluded: 



It may take some revolutionary thoughts in order to effect some evolutionary 

 progress. 



Milford and the subcommittee consistently supported additional 

 efforts by NASA to achieve supersonic technology readiness. The 

 subcommittee requested NASA to prepare a plan which would achieve 

 this goal by the early 1980's, but the plan disappointed Milford. In 

 an October 4 memorandum to Teague, Milford charged: 



NASA took a much less aggressive approach to the plan than was originally 

 envisioned * * *. The opponents tried to whip up the old hysteria that surrounded 

 the demise of the American SST. On the floor, we ultimately had a landslide vote 

 in favor of continuing NASA's small program in supersonic technology * * *. Ap- 

 parently NASA management backed away from any serious thought of advocating 

 a stepped-up supersonic technology program. They evidently feel the risk to other 

 programs is too great to justify an open push at this time. 



At Milford's urging, Teague wrote NASA Administrator Frosch 

 on October 13, 1977, asking NASA to redo the supersonic technology 

 plan and program, and resubmit it by the end of 1977. Once again, it 

 did not completely satisfy Milford's strong interest in pushing for 

 quicker development of supersonic technology, an interest shared by 

 a majority of the subcommittee. During Milford's final year as chair- 

 man, the House at the recommendation of the subcommittee added 

 $28.2 million to the NASA request of $264.1 million for aeronautical 

 research and technology. The Milford subcommittee earmarked $12 

 million of this amount for speeding up the variable cycle engine and 

 supersonic cruise aircraft research programs. The Senate conferees 

 were also interested in these areas, but would settle on only a $11 

 million net increase in the total NASA aeronautical authorization. 



