[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1619-E1620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICAN EMBASSY SECURITY ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. VERNON J. EHLERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 19, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2415) to 
     enhance security of United States missions and personnel 
     overseas, to authorize appropriations for the Department of 
     State for fiscal year 2000, and for other purposes.

  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
New York and the

[[Page E1620]]

gentleman from New Jersey for their hard work on this bill, and in 
particular, I would like to thank them for their support of the need 
for increased scientific and technological expertise at the U.S. State 
Department. Within the Manager's amendment before us today, Mr. Gilman 
has included a provision to address this need by establishing within 
the office of the Under Secretary for Global Affairs a Science and 
Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State.
  This new position is critical to avoiding communication gaps and 
missed opportunities for international scientific cooperation and 
protection of U.S. technology interests as it will allow the Secretary 
direct access to qualified technical analysis and advice. Science and 
technology are no longer isolated issues that require insight only as 
specific questions arise within the global community. Rather, the 
global community, and its economy, are increasingly tied to the 
commerce, trade, and health of its member countries through advances in 
information technology, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry, and 
questions regarding the environment. Furthermore, an increasing number 
of scientific projects are of such substantial size and expense, that 
they must be undertaken as collaborative projects among nations if they 
are to be pushed.
  Last year, during hearings conducted by the House Science Committee 
in conjunction with its work on the Science Policy Study, our most 
unanimous and emphatic testimony came from witnesses discussing the 
state of science and technology in our foreign relations. Several 
witnesses referenced a 1992 Carnegie Commission report entitled Science 
and Technology in U.S. International Affairs that stated that 
``Overall, U.S. international relations have suffered from the absence 
of a long-term, balanced strategy for issues at the intersection of 
science and technology with foreign affairs. Sometimes this absence of 
analysis and policy leads to unpreparedness for major issues, bitter 
interagency disputes, and inadequate last-minute preparations for an 
international meeting.'' However, as Bruce Alberts, the President of 
the National Academy of Sciences, states in his testimony, the State 
department is taking steps to address this void by requesting the 
National Research Council ``undertake a study on the contributions that 
science, technology and health can make to foreign policy and to make 
recommendations on how the department might better carry out its 
responsibilities to that end.'' This study is due to be completed in 
September, and one of the prescribed duties of the new Science and 
Technology Adviser will be to assist the Secretary of State in 
developing a report to submit to Congress describing plans for 
implementation of the Research Council's recommendations, as 
appropriate.
  By including this provision to establish a Science and Technology 
Adviser within the American Embassy Security Act, Congress will lend 
its support to those in the State Department who are already taking 
steps to improve the integration of science and technology within our 
foreign policy. I appreciate Mr. Gilman's support on this issue, and 
believe that the entire nation will benefit from this measure to better 
represent American knowledge, science and technological assets to our 
international partners.

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