INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH 
Minutes of Meeting 
November 3, 1977 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 
This eighth meeting of the Committee was convened at the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH) under the chairmanship of Dr. Donald S. 
Fredrickson, Director, NIH. 
Review of Congressional Activities 
In a brief review of Congressional activities since the Committee 
meeting of May 6, Dr. Fredrickson noted that the Administration bill 
was considered in Congressional hearings, and other bills on the 
subject were introduced in the Congress. After several redrafts by 
the relevant Subcommittees, a Senate bill was reported to the Floor, 
and a House bill was reported to the full Committee. 
Although the two bills reported out contain many elements of the 
original Administration bill, a number of differences concerned the 
Administration. For example, the Senate bill would give responsibility 
for regulation and the enforcement of standards to an autonomous 
regulatory commission. The House provisions placed many of these 
responsibilities in HEW but also established an advisory committee 
with operating functions. These approaches, especially the Senate 
bill, would necessarily involve a greater administrative burden 
and further delays and duplication in handling the highly technical 
matters involved in standard-setting and monitoring. 
( 375 ) 
