OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 39 



he would go back to the Committee for additional information and con- 

 sideration. In some cases, the additional information was sufficient to bring 

 the Director's approval; in others, the additional consideration resulted in 

 a modification or withdrawal of the recommendation. It is a tribute to the 

 caliber and intellectual integrity of the men involved that this close rela- 

 tionship continued for well over four years of intensive work under great 

 stress with cordial relations on all sides. 



The most conspicuous change brought about by the Executive Order 

 was the establishment within OSRD of a Committee on Medical Research 

 (CMR) consisting of a Chairman and three members to be appointed by 

 the President and three other members to be designated respectively by 

 the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Navy and the Administrator of the 

 Federal Security Agency, with the latter three members to be selected from 

 the staffs of the respective Surgeons General with particular reference to 

 their qualifications in the field of medical research. The authority of the 

 CMR in the field of military medicine was comparable to that of the NDRC 

 in the field of weapons. The provision of Paragraph 8 with respect to the 

 authority of the Committee was as follows: 



The Committee on Medical Research shall advise and assist the Director in the 

 performance of his medical research duties with special reference to the mobiliza- 

 tion of medical and scientific personnel of the nation. To this end it shall be the 

 responsibility of the Committee to recommend to the Director the need for and 

 character of contracts to be entered into with the universities, hospitals, and other 

 agencies conducting medical research activities for research and development in 

 the field of the medical sciences. Furthermore, the Committee shall from time to 

 time, on request by the Director, make findings and submit recommendations 

 with respect to the adequacy, progress, and results of research on medical prob- 

 lems related to national defense. 



Concurrent with the establishment of OSRD, the Council of National 

 Defense amended its order of November 28, 1940, providing for the co- 

 ordination of health, welfare and related defense activities to terminate the 

 duties, functions, and activities of the Health and Medical Committee 

 relating to medical research on problems affecting the national defense. 

 This responsibility was assumed by CMR. 



Following the precedent of the original NDRC, the order provided that 

 the members of the Advisory Council, the National Defense Research 

 Committee, the Committee on Medical Research and such other commit- 

 tees and subcommittees as the Director might appoint with the approval 

 of the President should serve as such without compensation but with re- 

 imbursement for necessary expenses incident to the performance of their 



duties. 



In a final paragraph, the order authorized the Director within the lim- 

 its of appropriated or allocated funds to employ necessary personnel and 



