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HISTORY OF THE COMMITTM; ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



Mr. Hechler. The name of the agency that you represent, Mr. Harper, is 

 officially called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 



Mr. Harper. Correct. 



Mr. Hechler. Yet, Aeronautics takes up less than 1 percent of the total NASA 

 budget. I just wonder it you ever feel slighted since you are only doing a very small 

 part of the work of NASA. Aeronautics is a field which I think deserves far greater 

 emphasis. Do you really think that this is an adequate amount for the Nation to 

 spend? 



Mr. Harper. Well, I feel the Nation must first decide whether it should sponsor 

 rapid development of aeronautics, if it is important to it. If it should, then the 

 amount is inadequate. If our responsibility is to provide basic information which will 

 show the direction advances can take and not the responsibility to see them in- 

 corporated, then I feel we have a good research program, and adequate to provide 

 this type of information. 



Wydler and Wolff pursued the question of the adequacy of NASA's 

 funding for noise suppression. Harper pointed out that NASA had 

 allocated $3 million in 1966 as against $2 million in the prior year for 

 noise suppression research. Wydler then posed the question: 



You are saying to put the research that you are doing and test it to see its practical 

 application would take a program about $20 to $30 million a year. Is that what we 

 are talking about? 



Harper agreed, but in response to a later question by Wolff, he 

 qualified his answer to indicate that the $20 million "alone without 

 some regulatory activity to force the use of sound control devices 

 would probably not produce results very fast." 



The Hechler subcommittee in 1966 unanimously voted an increase 

 of $2 million for the aeronautics area, with the stipulation that it be 

 used for noise reduction, hypersonic, and vertical and short take-off- 

 and-landing research. The committee and the Congress upheld the 

 increase. During the floor debate, Wydler's amendment to increase 

 aircraft noise funding by an additional $20 million sparked a spirited 

 interest on both sides of the aisle. On a teller vote, the amendment 

 was defeated, 64 to 27, and on a rollcall to recommit the entire bill 

 and include the Wydler amendment, it was defeated again 271 to 90. 

 But the committee was clearly committed to putting more emphasis 

 in the noise abatement area, and also in the entire field of aeronautics. 

 Throughout the period, Wydler stressed placing a higher priority 

 on aeronautics, particularly the reduction of aircraft noise. 



In 1967, the Hechler subcommittee started a drive to upgrade 

 aeronautics within the NASA organizational structure. Why not place 



