620 HISTORY OF THE COMMIT! I I ON SCIEIM I AND TECHNOLOGY 



only of the highest quality, which this committee has always proved capable of, 

 but also indicative of the fact that often it is the legislative branch which is most 

 capable of structuring an open, thoughtful debate of important matters of public 

 policy which affect the welfare of the nation 



Dr. Philip Handler, president of the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences, noted to the committee that '"your superlative interim re- 

 port * * * crisply summarizes the record of the past as well as our 

 present circumstances, raises the right questions concerning the future, 

 many more questions indeed than will find satisfying answers." 

 Teague tried without success to get Dr. Handler to speculate on the 

 reason why President Nixon had dismantled the science machinery in 

 the White House, prompting this exchange: 



The Chairman. I think the reaction from the Members I talked to was one of 

 surprise on Capitol Mill when this announcement was made. 

 Dr. Handler. We were surprised as well, sir. 



When Dr. Killian presented the Academy study report, he also 

 had a few comments about the committee work: 



I think that the testimony, the studies and the staff critique are important and 

 highly useful documents as we proceed to try to reach conclusions about this national 

 problem. I congratulate the Committee on Science and Astronautics on the depth of 

 its studies and the statesmanlike plan it has adopted for dealing with this important 

 aspect of science in government. 



THE KILLIAN REPORT 



The Killian report also recommended that a Council for Science 

 and Technology be established as a staff agency in the Executive 

 Office of the President. With regard to the work being assigned to 

 Dr. Stever, Dr. Killian stated: 



We view with admiration the gallant efforts of the Director of the National 

 Science Foundation in taking on the additional burden of serving as science adviser 

 to the President, but after careful review we have concluded that this arrangement is 

 inherently in the long run unsatisfactory and insufficient to serve the needs of the 

 Presidency. 



The Killian report also recommended that the Council for Science and 

 Technology should participate actively in the work of the National 

 Security Council. 



The committee members reacted differently to the Killian report. 

 Mosher asked Dr. Killian a number of critically probing questions, to 

 test whether the White House would accept the proposed mechanism. 

 Mosher's questions, he explains, were those of a devil's advocate, 

 and were designed to elicit strongly positive answers from the witness. 

 Which they did. Symington endorsed the report, concluding: 



I applaud your paper and hope that we will come forward with a proper response 

 at this end. 



