1006 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



The davs of ironfisted committee chairmen who imposed their 

 persona] will over the grumbling protests of their committee members 

 are probably gone forever. Fuqua (its well into the modern mold of a 

 chairman whose power and influence spring from creating a demo- 

 cratic consensus within the committee. Observers at the organization 

 meeting of the committee in February 1979 were struck by the fact 

 that Fuqua made his personal preference clearly visible in advance and 

 argued for jurisdictional responsibilities for the energy subcommittees 

 which committee members then proceeded to vote down. The votes 

 were close, there was no rancor, no '"hit list" was compiled for later 

 retributions, and the business of the committee went along smoothly 

 without the issue being raised again. 



EMPHASIS ON SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES 



At the same time, Fuqua had an interest in a number of substantive 

 issues w y hich he encouraged the committee to emphasize. He has 

 exerted leadership in expanding the committee's activitv in materials 

 policy, space industrialization, solar-powered satellites, and com- 

 mercialization of Earth resources information. Fuqua also has helped 

 sponsor overall reviews of all Federal R. & D. programs, as well as the 

 first major review of the National Science Foundation in over a decade. 

 He has taken a particular interest in more rigorous oversight in the 

 construction field, somewhat pushed to the background by the more 

 glamorous fields of operational R. & D. which attract more headlines. 

 In 1978, Fuqua carried the ball for freedom of research in connection 

 with recombinant DNA (see chapter XII). 



Fuqua's interest in international relations manifested itself not 

 only in sponsoring an oversight trip to Europe, and encouraging mem- 

 bers to visit Mexico in the spring of 1979, but a personal role in helping 

 push the Institute for Scientific and Technological Cooperation. He 

 testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in support of 

 the latter program, involving an emphasis on transferring "appro- 

 priate technology" to underdeveloped countries along grassroots 

 lines originally formulated by the late Vice President Hubert H. 

 Humphrey. In August 1979 Chairman Fuqua led a delegation of 

 seven committee members attending the United Nations Conference 

 on Science and Technology in Vienna. 



INTEREST IN SYNTHETIC FUELS 



Working closely with House Majority Leader Jim Wright, 

 Fuqua has stressed the development of synthetic fuels and has pressed 

 for greater congressional initiative in this area. In June 1979, he 



