662 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



In his letter to Davis, Miller stated that the objective of the task force 

 was to study and report on research and development requirements 

 associated with future energy needs. He cautioned that the study by 

 the task force would be expected to complement those of other con- 

 gressional and executive groups. Miller said he anticipated no duplica- 

 tion of effort, since the task force would be concentrating only on the 

 research and development aspects of the energy problem. 



CHARTER FOR THE TASK FORCE 



In drafting the letter for Miller's signature, Dr. Ratchford blue- 

 printed a broad charter for the task force. The letter stated: 



I would expect the Study to take a considerable part of the remainder of this 

 Congress if it is to be of the high quality which we all anticipate. The Study should 

 define what research and development is necessary in order for the United States to 

 cope with the current energy crisis, a crisis which threatens to become even worse in 

 the future. Technical evaluations need to be undertaken of the various research fields 

 associated with energy, and cost estimates made of the research and development 

 needed, together with short- and long-range schedules for performance of this needed 

 research and development. 



Miller stated that he felt that staff investigations and reports to the 

 task force members would be necessary. He emphasized that to be useful 

 to the rest of the committee and Congress "the quality of information 

 and advice received by the task force must be the highest." Miller 

 informed Davis that Dr. Ratchford would staff the task force, and "as 

 the activities of the task force evolve and specific staff requirements 

 become better defined," additional staff would be assigned. 



Just as the McCormack group was named a "task force" to avoid 

 seniority and jurisdictional problems, so the concept of "briefings" 

 rather than "hearings" arose. Miller's letter sternly cautioned: 



Should hearings be necessary as the Study progresses, these would be held by the 

 full Subcommittee on Science, Research and Development, and not by the task force. 



MEMBERSHIP OF THE TASK FORCE 



The next order of business was to line up the task force members. 

 The day after Miller signed the letter to Davis, McCormack asked 

 Miller for approval of his four nominees. This was done very speedily. 

 On July 22, Davis notified each of the members of his appointment. 

 The charter members of the task force were: 



Democrats Republicans 



Mike McCormack, Washington, Chairman Charles A. Mosher, Ohio 



James W. Symington, Missouri R. Lawrence Coughlin, Pennsylvania 



John F. Seiberling, Ohio 



