576 history or thi: COMMITTEE on science and technology 



the rupture of the Apollo 13 oxygen tank, and a calculation of the 

 amount of heat generated in the combustion of wastes had led to 

 improvement of the design of waste incinerators. Dr. Edward L. 

 Brady of NBS described to the subcommittee the stimulus which this 

 program had also given, through the International Council of Scientific 

 Unions, to the coordinated development of similar programs in other 

 nations. 



In his remarks to the House on April 25, 1972, Davis indicated 

 that the Standard Reference Data Act would also result in- 

 many projects which improve the Nation's capability to respond rapidly to the 

 need for reducing air pollution, improving energy sources and distribution, developing 

 new products, and strengthening technology and science in the United States. 



The bill, combined with the fire research bill in 1972, experienced 

 no difficulty in getting through. 



In 1975, with Symington as chairman of the subcommittee, NBS 

 Director Dr. Richard W. Roberts furnished this definition of what 

 was involved in SRD: 



V\ hen a scientist or engineer in the laboratory measures how much heat is given off 

 when a substance is burned, or how fast methane will react with air, or how soluble 

 mercury is in water, the results of his measurement are data. The numerical results 

 of measurements of intrinsic properties of substances are the kind ot data we are 

 talking about in the national standard reference data system. 



In its 1978 authorization for the system, the Congress increased 

 the authorization upward toward the $5 million level, and reduced the 

 authorization from three years to two. Science Committee members 

 Teague, Wydler, Flippo, and Hollenbeck spoke for the bill on the floor. 

 They soon found they were talking among themselves as nobody raised 

 any questions and everybody agreed with the committee's recom- 

 mendations by voice vote. 



OVERSIGHT of national bureau of standards 



Allen V. Astin, Director Emeritus of the National Bureau of 

 Standards, commented to Teague in 1978: 



A major disappointment to me over the early years of the committee was our 

 failure to develop a systematic program of oversight tor the National Bureau of 

 Standards. * * * 



The primary tocus was on the activities of the National Bureau of Standards in 

 support of the space program rather than on the broader responsibilities of the Bureau. 

 I always felt that the dominance of the interest in the space program prevented the 

 establishment of means for systematic review ot our programs. 



When Chairman Overton Brooks booked three days of hearings on 

 the NBS in the spring of 1959, he confessed: 



I live right next to the Bureau of Standards and although I have been in Washing- 

 ton over 20 years, I have never been in the Bureau ot Standards. 



