LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 12, 2004)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 707 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4755.
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AMENDMENT NO. 1 OFFERED BY MR. HOLT
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Holt:
Page 20, line 7, after the dollar amount insert "(reduced by $15,000,000)".
Page 33, line 21, after the dollar amount insert "(reduced by $15,000,000)".
Page 38, line 4, after the dollar amount insert "(increased by $30,000,000)".
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 707, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) and a Member
opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My amendment would add $30 million to the salaries and expenses account of the General Accounting Office for the
development of Scientific and Technology Assessment. This is something that is vital to us here in Congress. It would
meet a bipartisan need of Congress to receive more objective expert and timely advice on the scientific and
technological aspects of the issues before us. My amendment would avoid creating any new government agency or
bureaucracy, but it would provide Congress with reputable and partial timely advice and analysis of emerging scientific
and technological issues.
This is something that was, until 10 years ago, offered by an in-house agency. That is no longer available to us, but the GAO has begun on a pilot basis assuming some of this need and providing us with scientific and technological assessment. Not to have that today is hampering us in doing our work. So this certainly should be added to the appropriation.
It would enable Congress to understand the scientific and technological aspects of current and future legislative choices, be they in homeland security or national defense or medicine or telecommunications, agriculture, transportation, computer science. This is not just science for science's sake. This is to look at those scientific and technological aspects that are present in virtually everything we do here in Congress.
When the Office of Technology Assessment was operating until a decade ago, they produced studies in such areas as colorectal cancer screening, teachers in technology, Super Fund actions, wage record information system, defense of medicine and medical malpractice, grain dust explosion, policy with regard to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The GAO in the last couple of years, picking up on this need that is currently unmet, has begun with some studies in the areas, for example, of biometrics, protecting against cyberattack. They have under way studies looking at smuggling of weapons of mass destruction and containing forest fires.
I do not think there is anyone in this body who could argue that we do not need to be well informed in such areas.
Whether it is aviation safety or AIDS education or Alzheimer's disease or testing in American schools, we need technological assessment. This legislation, this amendment to this appropriations bill, would provide that through the organ of the General Accounting Office.
Because there has been resistance to reviving OTA, the Office of Technology Assessment, as it was, a number of us have been exploring other approaches, recognizing that every year that goes by without this capacity for in-house technological assessment represents lost opportunities, opportunities to save lives, to protect our towns and cities, and to commercialize new discoveries. This amendment will provide that.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. McDermott).
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Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.