SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, 1970-79 565 



CONCLUSIONS ON OTA 



The Thornton hearings continued during March and April of 1978. 

 In a comprehensive, 211-page report released in November 1978, the 

 subcommittee furnished a wide-ranging analysis of OTA and its prob- 

 lems and challenges, summarizing a massive amount of testimony, and 

 presenting a number of conclusions. Chairman Thornton wrapped it up 

 this way: 



I think the Subcommittee's inquiry points to these basic conclusions: (1) OTA 

 is being used by the various committees of the House and Senate and there appears to be 

 a growing reliance upon it by the Congress; (2) the assessments which have been per- 

 formed thus far by OTA have proved useful to the Congress in a large majority of the 

 cases; (3) OTA should continue to be supported by Congress as a unique source of 

 important evaluated information; and (4) while it seems clear that the 1972 Organic 

 Act would profit from certain legislative changes, OTA should continue its operations 

 on the current legislative basis for at least two more years, at which time amendments 

 to the statute might well be considered. 



Chemical and Engineering News commented: 



In sum, the committee gives the agency an affectionate pat on the rump. It says, 

 in effect, "You're making it, boy. Stick in there." 



The storm clouds over OTA darkened in 1979. Former Governor 

 Peterson resigned as OTA's Director after serving only 13 months of his 

 six-year term. He was succeeded on June 1, 1979, by Dr. John H. 

 Gibbons of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. When Fuqua appeared 

 before the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on 

 Accounts on March 13, 1979, Representative John Brademas (Demo- 

 crat of Indiana), the subcommittee chairman, questioned OTA's 

 track record and urged stricter oversight by the Science Committee. 

 In a letter to Brademas on March 20, 1979, Fuqua expressed agree- 

 ment "that continued surveillance of OTA operations by the Science 

 and Technology Committee is needed." Fuqua added: 



We may well give consideration to legislative reform of the Office, since OTA's 

 problems appear more related to procedures, protocol and structure than to produc- 

 tion. The latter, as I mentioned, has been generally meritorious. 



General Counsel Yeager then proceeded to draft legislation to 

 amend the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 in an attempt to alle- 

 viate the problems. 



FIRE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 



When Congressman Davis presented the Fire Prevention and Con- 

 trol Act of 1974, one of the greatest needlers in the House, Congress- 

 man Gross, asked: 



I wonder how in the world this bill ever got to the Committee on Science and 

 Astronautics. There are no astronautics involved that I know anything about unless 

 it is proposed to put firemen in the air someplace. 



