On the recordJune 7, 2018
I thank my colleagues for helping me bring this amendment to the floor. We now live in a world where technology has become increasingly important in our personal lives, in our economy, and in our democracy, but Congress is not adequately prepared to lead on the technical issues that could have serious effects on our country's future. The Office of Technology Assessment would provide Congress with nonpartisan reports and realtime advice on issues that require leadership from lawmakers, including data privacy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and others. When it was operating, lawmakers used the OTA's reports to make decisions that save taxpayer money, which is why this amendment received bipartisan support in the past. Before it was defunded, the OTA advised Congress, for example, on the importance of interoperability of electronic health records, advice that, had it been acted on, would have saved billions of dollars and thousands of lives. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and restore the OTA so Congress, once again, has access to credible and nonpartisan scientific expertise.
