A 5-year permit to quarry and remove granite was issued in 1939 to a private granite company under this ruling. However, in 1945 the Solicitor reversed the former opinion and ruled that the minerals on the lands described before could not be disposed of by any authority. Consequently, in accordance with the latter ruling, the Forest Service has refrained from issuing any more mining permits on lands of this character. In fairness to the holders of existing permits, the Forest Service permitted them to remain in force for their stated term of years. In the case of the granite company referred to, an additional period, which expires on November 20, 1949, was granted to allow for an orderly liquidation of the company's investment. Representatives of the Departments of Agriculture and Interior testified before the committee that it is highly desirable to permit the prospecting, development, mining, removal, and utilization of the mineral resources within the Superior National Forest. as provided by this bill. Granite, gravel, and iron ore probably are the only mineral substances obtainable in the area. Mining operations in the Superior National Forest are limited, and in no way interfere with the forest's recreational benefits. It is the opinion of the committee, and the Departments agree, that those whose permits or leases expired and were not renewed as a result of the Solicitor's ruling or who have made investments for the mining and removal of mineral substances from the described lands should be given the privilege of renewing or retaining their permits or leases. The committee notes that the bill provides that the development and utilization of minerals within the Superior National Forest shall be subject to such conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe to insure the adequate utilization and proper protection of the lands for national forest purposes. The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommends the prompt enactment of II. R. 4895. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ACT OF 1949 JUNE 14, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. CROSSER, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4846] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4846) to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments ars as follows: Page 3, strike out lines 3 to 5. inclusive, and insert in lieu thereof the following indented paragraph: (6) to evaluate scientific research programs undertaken by individuals and by public and private research groups, including scientific research programs of agencies of the Federal Government, and to correlate the Foundation's scientific research programs with such programs; Page 10, line 14, after "10." insert "(a)", and on page 11, after line 9, insert the following subsection: (b) No part of any funds appropriated or otherwise made available for expenditure by the Foundation under authority of this Act shall be used to make payments under any scholarship or fellowship to any individual unless there is on the file with the Foundation an affidavit executed by such individual that he does not believe in, and is not a member of and does not support any organization that believes in or teaches, the overthrow of the United States Government by force or violence or by any illegal or unconstitutional methods. The provisions of section 1001 of title 18, United States Code, shall be applicable in respect of such affidavits. Page 18, strike out lines 17 to 21, inclusive; and in line 22 strike out (i) and insert "(h)"; and on page 19, line 9, strike out "(j)" and insert "(i)"; and in line 18 strike out "(k)" and insert "(j)"; and on page 20, line 1, strike out "(1)" and insert "(k)”. PURPOSE OF THE BILL Stated briefly, the purpose of this bill is to create an independent agency of the Government to be known as the National Science Foundation, and to grant to that agency appropriate authority to be used for the following purposes: (1) To develop and encourage the pursuit of a national policy for the promotion of basic research and education in the sciences; (2) To initiate and support basic scientific research through contracts or other arrangements, and to appraise the impact of research upon industrial development and upon the general welfare; (3) To initiate and support (after consultation with the Secretary of Defense) scientific research in connection with matters relating to the national defense through contracts and other arrangements; (4) To grant scholarships and graduate fellowships in the sciences; (5) To foster the interchange of scientific information among scientists in the United States and foreign countries; (6) To correlate its research programs with other scientific research programs of individuals and public (including Federal governmental) and private groups, as well as to evaluate such other programs. A detailed explanation of the provisions of the bill, as amended by the committee, appears below under a separate heading. GENERAL STATEMENT The committee is of the opinion that legislation of this character is essential to the preservation and fostering of the national health, security, and prosperity, and to the full development of our scientific resources. Lessons learned during the war period point clearly to the need for an appropriately constituted agency of the Government, to function in time of peace or war, to promote and foster fundamental research in the sciences which is not likely to be carried on privately because of the size and difficulty of the problems and because of lack of immediate promise of commercial value. The committee is deeply impressed by the fact that while the United States has been for many years and still is eminent in the fields of applied research and engineering development, it does not occupy a comparable prominent position in the field of fundamental or pure research. Dr. Vannevar Bush, the wartime head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, in his final report entitled "Science: The Endless Frontier" states as follows: Our nationa! preeminence in the fields of applied research and technology should not blind us to the truth that, with respect to pure research-the discovery of fundamental new knowledge and basic scientific principles-America has occupied a secondary place. Our spectacular development of the automobile, the airplane, and radio obscures the fact that they were all based on fundamental discoveries made in nineteenth-century Europe. From Europe also came formu lation of most of the laws governing the transformation of energy, the physical and chemical structure of matter, the behavior of electricity, light, and magnetism. In recent years the United States has made progress in the field of pure science, but an examination of the relevant statistics suggests that our efforts in the field of applied science have increased much faster so that the proportion of pure to applied research continues to decrease. Several reasons make it imperative to increase pure research at this stage in our history. First, the intellectual banks of continental Europe, from which we No formerly borrowed, have become bankrupt through the ravages of war. longer can we count upon those sources for fundamental science. Second, in this modern age, more than ever before, pure research is the pacemaker of technological progress. In the nineteenth century, Yankee mechanical ingenuity, building upon the basic discoveries of European science, could greatly advance the technical arts. Today the situation is different. Future progress will be most striking in those highly complex fields-electronics, aerodynamics, chemistry-which are based directly upon the foundation of modern science. In the next generation, technological advance and basic scientific discovery will be inseparable; a nation which borrows its basic knowledge will be hopelessly handi capped in the race for innovation. The other world powers, we know, intend to foster scientific research in the future. The field of pure or basic research has traditionally been left to institutions of higher learning. Private sources of support for these institutions have not kept step with the increased need for basic research. SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS Testimony before the committee has further demonstrated the existence of a severe shortage of trained scientists, resulting from the fact that only a handful of young men and women were able to continue their scientific training during World War II. This shortage of skilled scientists is apparent in universities, endowed research foundations, Government laboratories, and in industry. Moreover, industry is competing heavily for these scientists who are tempted more and more to shift from pure research to applied and commercial research. The committee has made a particularly careful study of the question of continuing need for increasing the Nation's supply of trained scientists. Testimony received by the committee in the course of its recent hearings reveals that in the period just before the First World War about 250 doctorates in the sciences were turned out annually by American universities. By the end of the next decade, this had jumped to an annual total of about 500 doctorates. By 1931, about 1,000 doctorates in the sciences were turned out annually. This had increased so that in 1941 over 2,000 doctorates were granted. It will be noted, therefore, that from the first decade of the present century, the number of persons trained to the doctorate level in the sciences approximately doubled every 10 years. It is most important, however, that since 1941 there has been a sharp and steady decline in the number of doctorates in the sciences trained by American universities. In the years 1945 and 1946, less than 1.000 persons were trained to this level annually, or a drop of more than 50 percent from the 1941 total. There was an increase in 1947 to approximately 1,500, and in 1948 the total number of persons trained to the doctorate was approximately 1,700. Yet it will be noted that we have not recovered as of this date the rate of training of American universities in 1941. Furthermore, a recent census of American universities carried out by the Office of Scientific Personnel indicates no prospect for some time to come of a substantial increase in the rate of training of persons to the doctorate level beyond the number of 2,000 who received their degrees in 1941. According to the same statistics, there are about 8,500 graduate students who would be qualified to achieve a doctorate in the 5-year period beginning in 1948. There appear to be two main barriers which reduce the number of persons who go on to the level of training indicated by their abilities. The first of these is the transition from high school to college. The second is from college to graduate school. In the first case, there is evidence to indicate that there are substantial numbers of persons of high ability who do not have the opportunity to go on to college. It appears to be true that about one-third of the persons who are highly qualified from the point of academic aptitude do not finish college due in large measure to inadequate financial means. In the transition from college to graduate school there is evidence of a loss of competent personnel due to inadequate financial means. The above-mentioned census indicated that about 25 percent of those who were clearly competent to carry on successful graduate training could not do so for lack of funds. The total number of persons involved in this category is not large. A relatively small expenditure of Federal funds affording fellowships to such individuals would undoubtedly return rich dividends. HISTORY OF BILL The committee's views as to the need for this legislation are substantiated by the testimony of over 150 witnesses heard in committees of the two Houses of Congress during the Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, and Eighty-first Congresses. The testimony of these witnesses, most of them outstanding scientists, educators, public oflicials, and representatives of labor, industry, and the clergy, was virtually unanimous as to the need for legislation of this character. The committee has received a large number of communications from departments and agencies of the Government, and from private agencies and organizations, with respect to this proposed legislation. As in the case of the oral testimony before the committee, these communications are virtually unanimous as to the need for legislation of this character. The Congress has long been aware of the need for legislation on this subject. The history of the Science Foundation legislation begins in November 1941 when President Roosevelt wrote a letter to Dr. Vannevar Bush, Director of the wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development, asking him to prepare for him a report on a postwar science program. President Roosevelt had passed away when Dr. Bush submitted his report in July 1945. His report was entitled "Science, the Endless Frontier." It became the basis for the Science Foundation legislation which is being considered today. Shortly after the submission of the report and essentially based on its recommendations, identical Science Foundation bills were introduced in the Seventy-ninth Congress by Senator Magnuson and Representative Mills. Other measures were introduced by Senators Kilgore and Fulbright. When, in September of 1945. President Truman called Congress into special session to enact a 21-point postwar domestic program, one of the points urged the establishment of a single Federal research agency. Following the President's request, hearings were begun in the Senate on the various Science Foundation bills which continued through October of 1945. |