[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 22 (Thursday, March 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
CARNEGIE GROUP URGES CONGRESS TO RESTRUCTURE THE WAY IT HANDLES SCIENCE 
                             AND TECHNOLOGY

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 1994

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, as the former cochairman of the Joint 
Committee on the Organization of Congress, I draw to the attention of 
my colleagues a report issued a few days ago warning that overlapping 
congressional responsibilities and barriers to multiyear funding are 
limiting the ability of American science and technology to solve the 
Nation's problems.
  In the report, which was released on February 14, 1994, the Carnegie 
Commission on Science, Technology and Government proposes a set of 
procedural and organizational changes to make congressional action on 
science and technology policy more effective.
  The report, entitled ``Science, Technology, and Congress: 
Organizational and Procedural Reforms,'' is the work of the Carnegie 
Commission's Committee on Science, Technology and Congress, chaired by 
our distinguished former colleague, Dr. John Brademas, president 
emeritus of New York University, who for 22 years--1959-81--served in 
the House of Representatives.
  In discussing the report, Dr. Brademas said,

       Addressing the challenges that face this country--from 
     school failure and AIDS to economic competitiveness and 
     nuclear terrorism--will demand the wise use of science and 
     technology. Differences between House and Senate 
     jurisdictions have often diluted responsibility for science 
     and technology policy. The reforms we urge could enable 
     Congress to set intelligent priorities in a time of severe 
     fiscal constraint.

  Alluding to the work of the Joint Committee on the Organization of 
Congress, the Carnegie report asserts that ``the time is right for 
reform,'' and notes that with the responsibility for science and 
technology policy in Congress divided among 18 committees and dozens of 
subcommittees, it is very difficult to consider the Nation's scientific 
and technological endeavor as a whole. Policymaking, therefore, 
suffers.
  The fragmentation also, says the report, makes it difficult for the 
executive branch and the scientific and technical community to form 
productive partnerships with Congress.


 recommendations of the carnegie commission on science, technology and 
                                congress

  Mr. Speaker, among the chief recommendations of the Carnegie 
Commission on Science, Technology and Congress are that Congress:
  Establish a National Forum on Science and Technology Goals that can 
put these goals in the context of national and international 
objectives;
  Reform the committee structure to permit more consistent 
implementation and oversight of scientific and technical programs;
  Modify appropriations committee jurisdiction to reduce the number of 
subcommittees responsible for funding S&T activities;
  Enforce existing rules on the division of committee responsibility, 
especially with respect to authorizing and appropriations committees;
  Extend funding cycles for S&T programs through the use of multiyear 
funding mechanisms, such as multiyear appropriations, advanced or 
forward funding, and up-front funding of major construction projects;
  Test the effectiveness of 2-year congressional budget cycle;
  Adopt, with the executive branch, an accurate and consistent set of 
funding categories that would carry through the budget process.

  The report also includes a case study of congressional academic 
earmarking
  Dr. Brademas said:

       Science and technology support, rather than complete with, 
     the missions of Government departments and agencies.
       This report suggests ways of organizing and using that 
     support more wisely. It is not a plea for more S&T funding 
     from Congress.

  ``By choosing reform,''
The report says, ``Congress can help ensure that the United States will 
enter the 21st century using to the fullest one of our greatest assets, 
the strength of American science and technology.''


                           two other reports

  Mr. Speaker, the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and 
Government was established in 1988 by the Carnegie Corp. of New York, 
whose president, Dr. David A. Hamburg, initiated the effort. The 
Commission has published a series of reports on how the Federal 
Government and the States can better integrate scientific and technical 
knowledge into the public policymaking process.
  ``Science, Technology, and Congress: Organizational and Procedural 
Reforms'' is the third and last in the series of reports by the 
Carnegie Commission's Committee on Science, Technology and Congress. In 
addition to Dr. Brademas, the Committee consists of former President 
Jimmy Carter; Florida Governor and former Senator Lawton Chiles; former 
Washington Governor and Senator Daniel J. Evans; former Maryland 
Senator Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.; and H. Guyford Stever, former 
science advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford.
  The first report dealing with Congress, ``Science, Technology and 
Congress: Expert Advice on the Decision-Making Process,'' issued in 
February 1991, discussed how Congress obtains advice on science and 
technology from outside government--from industry, academia, and other 
institutions.
  The second report, ``Science, Technology and Congress: An Analysis 
and Advice From the Congressional Support Agencies,'' issued in October 
1991, dealt with how Congress obtains such advice from the four 
congressional support agencies: The Office of Technology Assessment 
[OTA], the Congressional Research Service [CRS] of the Library of 
Congress, the General Accounting Office [GAO], and the Congressional 
Budget Office [CBO].
  I note finally, Mr. Speaker, that the deliberations of the committee 
chaired by Dr. Brademas were also informed by a congressional advisory 
council, of which I was privileged to be one, a bipartisan group of 40 
Senators and Representatives.

                          ____________________