INTRODUCTION

With respect to research and development, the 93d Congress was most notable for its attention to the problems brought on by the energy crisis. Energy research and development, the development of alternative sources of energy, and conservation of natural resources were the dominant themes of congressional concern with research and development.

Although the predominant concern of the Congress was energy, it continued along the humanist lines of inquiry established in the 91st and 92d congresses. Problems of the aging, the poor, and the young received increased consideration as well as the needs of maternal, infant, and fetal nutrition. Biomedical research ethics added a new dimension to research in the medical sciences especially in relation to the unborn fetus. Health care delivery indicated an increased awareness of related problems among the poor and aged.

Several areas of science policy continued to reflect concern within the Congress. Incentives for innovation, policies, plans, and organization, and priorities for science and technology were of particular interest due to the abolition of the Office of Science and Technology. Technology policy as an area somewhat distinct from science policy made inroads ruding the 93d Congress. Technology assessment, technology transfer and utilization, and related problems and prospects were considered in terms of national and international implications.

Metrication and international voluntary standardization as continuing issues of congressional concern were still unresolved at the close of the 93d Congress.

The environment continued to interest the Congress although issues of clean air and clean water sometimes seemed at odds with the need for abundant, cheap energy. Resource conservation, recycling and energy recovery dominated much of the environmental research devel.. opment undertaken in 1973 and 1974.

Aside from the crisis problems of supply and demand generated by the energy shortage, numerous organizational problems required resolution. Proposals included a Federal Energy Office, a Department of Energy and Natural Resources, a Nuclear Energy Commission and a Federal Energy Administration. Long and short range policies for energy led to the establishment of the Council on Energy Policy and the Energy Policy Act. The Senate conducted a major study on national fuels and energy policy and the National Commission on Materials Policy issued a major report dealing with energy conservation and development among other recommendations.

The Senate Subcommittee on Reorganization, Research and International Organizations of the Committee on Government Operations has sought to inform the public of legislative and executive branch actions with regard to scientific research and development through its Inventory of Congressional Concern with Research and Development.

This bibliography was prepared by Claire Riley Geier of the Science Policy Research Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. "An Inventory of Congressional Concern with Research and Development" is the eighth part of a continuing effort to catalog congressional publications related to science and technology.

As in the past, agency appropriations and authorizations have been excluded since they are annual routine legislation. The works in the bibliography include: hearings, committee prints, House and Senate reports and documents and public laws.

This publication is divided into four parts; Senate publications, joint committee publications, House publications, and public laws. The charts indicate the extent of committee action and the degree of attention given serious subjects. A subject index is included which cross references the publications included in the bibliography. The headings include:

CHART 1

CHART 2

Committees

NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS
30

Aeronautical and Space Sciences

Labor and Public Welfare

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy