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A BILL TO AMEND THE NATIONAL SCIENCE

FOUNDATION ACT OF 1950

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1966

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT, Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, in room 2325, Rayburn House Office Building, at 10:10 a.m., Hon. Emilio Q. Daddario presiding.

Mr. DADDARIO. The meeting will come to order.

Will you step forward, please, Dr. Haworth, and have any members of your staff sit with you that you would like. We can add addi

tional tables.

Dr. HAWORTH. I would like to have Mr. Hoff, General Counsel of the Foundation, and Dr. Wilson, the Deputy Director, sit at the table.

Mr. DADDARIO. We have come a long way since the Congress established the National Science Foundation some 15 years ago. It was a new concept then and in giving support to it, the Congress showed its ability to look ahead and to move in a direction necessary to fill a national need. Science today is recognized as an essential ingredient in our national life. It is recognized as an innovative force that is both a deep and durable influence on almost every aspect of our social and economic well-being as well as being fundamental to our national security.

The scientific community 15 years past showed its concern and its cooperation. Science and government had developed such close ties during World War II and had come to work even more harmoniously to maintain the health and vigor of science on the one hand and to enhance its availability through Federal programs to accomplish important national objectives. In the years that have intervened science has become increasingly important to the country and the National Science Foundation has confirmed the role and visualized force.

Today it occupies a key position in relationship to support of scientific research and educational facilities. We seek here in these hearings to review and adjust the legislation involved so as to meet the needs which have emerged during these years.

The intent of the bill H.R. 13696 before this committee is to strengthen every element of the Foundation: Its role, its management, and its relationship with the scientific community.

As we commence these hearings on the bill before us, Dr. Haworth, I do want to thank you not only for being here this morning, with

your staff, but for the immense amount of work you have had to do to support this committee in its activities during the course of the hearings which have taken place already and to prepare for these few days of hearings on the legislation itself. We recognize how important your testimony is, and we are extremely anxious to hear you.

(The bill is as follows:)

[H.R. 13696, 89th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to make changes and improvements in the organization and operation of the Foundation, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 3 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 is amended to read as follows:

"FUNCTIONS OF THE FOUNDATION

"SEC. 3. (a) The Foundation is authorized and directed

"(1) to initiate and support basic scientific research and programs to strengthen scientific research potential in the mathematical, physical, medical, biological, engineering, social, and other sciences, by making contracts or other arrangements (including grants, loans, and other forms of assistance) to support such scientific activities and to appraise the impact of research upon industrial development and upon the general welfare;

"(2) at the request of the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense, to initiate and support specific scientific research activities in connection with matters relating to international cooperation or national security by making contracts or other arrangements (including grants, loans, and other forms of assistance) for the conduct of such scientific research;

"(3) to award, as provided in section 10, scholarships and graduate fellowships in the mathematical, physical, medical, biological, engineering, social, and other sciences;

"(4) to foster the interchange of scientific information among scientists in the United States and foreign countries;

"(5) to evaluate the status and needs of the various sciences as evidenced by programs, projects, and studies undertaken by agencies of the Federal Government, by individuals, and by public and private research groups, employing by grant or contract such consulting services as it may deem necessary for the purpose of such evaluations; and to take into consideration the results of such evaluations in correlating the research and educational programs undertaken or supported by the Foundation with programs, projects, and studies undertaken by agencies of the Federal Government, by individuals, and by public and private research groups;

'(6) to maintain a current register of scientific and technical personnel, and in other ways to provide a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on the availability of, and the current and projected need for, scientific and technical manpower in the United States, including its territories and possessions, and to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies of the Federal Government; and

"(7) to initiate and maintain a program for the determination of the total amount of money for scientific research, including money allocated for the construction of the facilities wherein such research is conducted, received by each educational institution, nonprofit organization, and private contractor in the United States, including its territories and possessions, by grant, contract, or other arrangement from agencies of the Federal Government, and to report annually thereon to the President and the Congress. "(b) In addition to the authority contained in subsection (a), the Foundation is authorized to initiate and support scientific research, including applied research, at academic and other nonprofit institutions and, when directed by the President, at other appropriate organizations, relevant to national problems involving the public interest. In exercising the authority contained in this subsection, the Foundation may employ by grant or contract such consulting services as it deems necessary, and shall coordinate and correlate its activities with respect to any such problem with other agencies of the Federal Government undertaking similar programs in that field.

"(c) The Board shall recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of basic research and education in the sciences.

"(d) In exercising the authority and discharging the functions referred to in subsections (a), (b), and (c), it shall be one of the objectives of the Foundation to strengthen research and education in the sciences, including independent research by individuals, throughout the United States, including its territories and possessions, and to avoid undue concentration of such research and education.

"(e) The Foundation shall render an annual report to the President for submission on or before the 15th day of January of each year to the Congress, summarizing the activities of the Foundation and making such recommendations as it may deem appropriate. Such report shall include information as to the acquisition and disposition by the Foundation of any patents and patent rights." SEC. 2. Section 4 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 as amended to read as follows:

"NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD

"SEC. 4. (a) The Board shall consist of twenty-four members to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and of the Director ex officio. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, the function of the Board shall be to establish the policies of the Foundation.

"(b) The Board shall have an Executive Committee as provided in section 7, and may delegate to it or to the Director or both such of the powers and functions granted to the Board by this Act as it deems appropriate.

"(c) The persons nominated for appointment as members of the Board (1) shall be eminent in the fields of the basic, medical or social sciences, engineering, agriculture, education, or public affairs; (2) shall be selected solely on the basis of established records of distinguished service; and (3) shall be so selected as to provide representation of the views of scientific leaders in all areas of the Nation. The President is requested, in the making of nominations of persons for appointment as members, to give due consideration to any recommendations for nomination which may be submitted to him by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, the Association of American Universities, the Association of American Colleges, or by other scientific or educational organizations.

"(d) The term of office of each member of the Board shall be six years; except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term. Any person, other than the Director, who has been a member of the Board for twelve consecutive years shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment during the two-year period following the expiration of such twelfth year.

"(e) The Board shall meet annually on the third Monday in May unless, prior to May 10 in any year, the Chairman has set the annual meeting for a day in May other than the third Monday, and at such other times as the Chairman may determine, but he shall also call a meeting whenever one-third of the members so request in writing. A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. Each member shall be given notice, by registered mail or certified mail to his last known address of record not less than fifteen days prior to any meeting, of the call of such meeting.

"(f) The election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board shall take place every second annual meeting. The Vice Chairman shall perform the duties of the Chairman in his absence. In case a vacancy occurs in the chairmanship or vice chairmanship, the Board shall elect a member to fill such vacancy.

"(g) The Board shall render an annual report to the President, for submission on or before the 31st day of January of each year to the Congress, on the status and health of science and its various disciplines. Such report shall include an assessment of national scientific resources and trained manpower, an assessment of basic scientific progress, and an indication of those aspects of such progress which might have implications for the needs of American society. The report may include such recommendations as the Board may deem appropriate.

"(h) The Board may, with the concurrence of a majority of its members, permit the appointment of a staff consisting of not more than five professional staff members and such clerical staff members as may be necessary. Such staff shall be appointed by the Director and assigned at the direction of the Board. The professional members of such staff may be appointed without regard to the civil service laws or the Classification Act of 1949 and compensated at a rate not exceeding the appropriate rate provided for individuals in grade 15 of the General

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