Jeff Bingaman: “this amendment addresses an important need of the Congress created by the demise, two years ago, of the Office of…”

“this amendment addresses an important need of the Congress created by the demise, two years ago, of the Office of Technology Assessment. That need is for authoritative and in-depth studies of scientific and technological issues that are at the root of many of the problems that we are called on to address through legislation. Over the 23 years of its existence, from 1972 to 1995, the Office of Technology Assessment functioned as our in-house brain trust. It was a competent, timely, and impartial source of scientific and technical advice on a wide range of issues. In early 1995, the decision was made to end the existence of the Office of Technology Assessment by zeroing out its appropriation. The judgment of the Congress at that time was that it needed to demonstrate to the American people that it was willing to downsize its own operations. I miss the OTA, and I know that a lot of my colleagues in the Senate and in the House do too. I am not proposing today to reverse what we did 2 years ago by recreating new offices in the Congress or by hiring new permanent staff. I believe that there are other, more flexible ways for Congress to gain direct access to high-quality and timely advice and insight on cutting edge science and technology relevant to our legislative duties. My amendment attempts to use the existing legislative authorities for oversight of the old OTA to oversee a new pilot experiment.…”