A \1W NAM! AND IX HANDED AUTHORITY FOR THE COMMITTEE 703 

 DR. SEAMANS SUPPORTS SCIENCE COMMITTEE 



Following the completion of the iirst phase of the hearings, the 

 Boiling committee turned to panels of experts, political scientists, and 

 outside analysts and observers for advice and assessments. Dr. Robert 

 C. Seamans, Jr., President of the National Academy of Engineering 

 and former Deputy Administrator of NASA, told the Boiling com- 

 mittee: 



From my own experience in the fields of research and development, I think we 

 have been very fortunate in the House to have the Science and Astronautics Com- 

 mittee which has looked not just at astronautics as somewhat of a special area within 

 research and development, but has looked at research and development on a broad 

 scale. 



Representative John C. Culver (Democrat of Iowa) questioned Dr. 

 Seamans about the need for more integrated planning in the congres- 

 sional committee system. In response to one of Culver's questions, 

 Dr. Seamans responded: 



Maybe it is time for the Committee on Science and Astronautics to be looking 

 at broader issues because the NASA program is obviously less now than it was 5 or 

 6 years ago. Maybe this committee shouldn't be considered primarily to oversee 

 one agency, but rather should review the aggregate of all Federal R. & D. 



There were so many Members of Congress eager to testify before 

 the Boiling committee that the time was extended for Members of 

 Congress. On September 13, Brown presented his customarily broad- 

 gauge approach to congressional reform, including a recommendation 

 for a Select Committee on Energy. Brown's suggestion eventually came 

 to pass in 1977, and resembled the 1971 resolution of Tennessee's Con- 

 gressman Richard H. Fulton. At that time, however, the Boiling com- 

 mittee was not inclined to proliferate more committees, but rather to 

 make sense out of the existing structure. Faced with a negative re- 

 action, Brown then stated: 



If a new source requires new technologies which are not now available, it might 

 be a part of Science and Astronautics, which deals with basic science, research and 

 development. 



dr. Sheldon's influence 



Once the hearings were completed, the Boiling committee at the 

 end of the year went into the crucial premarkup period when the 

 tentative draft of a bill was prepared. At this point, the importance of 

 the staff of the Boiling committee became of critical importance. 

 Boiling's Chief of Staff was Dr. Charles S. Sheldon II, who had been 

 assistant director of the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space 

 Exploration and also technical director of the House Committee on 

 Science and Astronautics. When Teague testified on June 8, he 

 remarked: 



I think the members should know that Dr. Sheldon was a senior staff member 

 on the Science and Astronautics Committee about ten years ago. 



