440 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



Among Science Committee members who attended the Vienna 

 Conference were Fuqua, McCormack, Brown, Schcuer, Harkin, Winn, 

 and Hollenbeck. 



OTHER DISPAC ACTIVITIES 



This chapter does not deal with the many domestic activities in 

 which DISPAC participated, such as research into violent behavior, 

 the role of research and development in improving the quality of urban 

 life, computers and the learning society, new drug approval procedures 

 in the Food and Drug Administration, computers and technology and 

 the cost of health care, and research into criminal sentencing. It is 

 amazing to contemplate the tremendous variety of different subjects 

 and areas tackled by DISPAC. Somehow in between other duties, 

 Chairman Scheuer managed to take two monthlong trips to Asia (in- 

 cluding the People's Republic of China) and also to visit Europe. In 

 April 1978, DISPAC published Scheuer's personal report on "The 

 Growing Awareness of Population and Health Issues in Africa," a 

 sensitive 125-page appraisal on the national family planning programs 

 and population concerns in six sub-Saharan nations. It all started when 

 Teague asked Scheuer to attend the Intelsat Conference in Nairobi, 

 Kenya, in October 1976 and mushroomed out from there somewhat 

 typical of the fashion in which DISPAC itself mushroomed out to 

 cover a vast smorgasbord of activities. 



Somewhat symptomatic and symbolic of DISPAC s awareness of 

 what might crop up tomorrow crept into a memorandum which staff 

 director Wells sent to committee deputy director Gould on Decem- 

 ber 14, 1977, in response to a request for a detailed DISPAC budget 

 for 1978. Dr. Wells, after furnishing specifics down to the dollar and 

 cents of what would be required for consultants, travel, and other 

 expenses, slyly slipped in the following one-liner at the very end of 

 his memorandum: 



Contingency Fund: $100,000. You never know what is going to come up! 

 EUROPEAN OVERSIGHT TRIP 



From May 28 through June 3, 1977, eight members of the House 

 Committee on Science and Technology, accompanied by three members 

 of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation con- 

 ducted an oversight trip to Germany, England, and France. A great 

 measure of the trip was devoted to international science policy, in- 

 cluding briefings and question and answer sessions at the following 

 organizations and installations: 



International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. 



International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxcnburg, Austria. 



