[Congressional Record: September 28, 1995 (Extensions)]
[Page E1868-E1870]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr28se95-157]
IN MEMORIAM: THE OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT, 1972-95
______
HON. AMO HOUGHTON
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 28, 1995
Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment [OTA], which served the Congress with such great distinction
for more than 20 years, will close its doors on September 29, 1995. On
behalf of all the Members of this body, I would like to express my deep
appreciation to the more than 200 dedicated and talented individuals at
OTA who have served us so selflessly. And I want to share with you a
brief summary of their accomplishments.
As you know, OTA's job was to provide the Congress with an objective,
thorough analysis of many of the critical technical issues of the day.
And that it did, examining cutting edge science in medicine,
telecommunications, agriculture, materials, transportation, defense,
indeed in every discipline and sector important
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to the United States. The agency appraised the costs and benefits of
diverse technological systems: The computerization plans of Federal
agencies; satellite and space systems; methods for managing natural
resources; systems for disposing of wastes. The list is endless. But to
mention just a few more:
OTA evaluated the environmental impacts of technology and estimated
the economic and social impacts of rapid technological change. The
agency offered sound principles for coping with, reaping the benefits
of, that technological change--in industry, in the Federal Government,
in the work-place, and in our schools. The agency took on controversial
subjects, examining them objectively and comprehensively for our
benefit. It help us to better understand complex technical issues by
tailoring reports for legislative users. It provided us with early
warnings on technology's impacts and it enabled us to better oversee
the science and technology programs within the Federal establishment.
While pulling issues down to practical grounds, OTA has usually erred
on the optimistic side. For example, OTA regularly spelled out its
belief in the power of technology to improve our lives and help solve
the Nation's problems. It worked through a basic understanding of how
technology works, how institutions need to change to accommodate new
technology, how resistant to change such institutions can be when the
conditions are wrong, and how swiftly they can adapt when the
conditions are right. OTA helped us discover the conditions for change.
A Scope Wide and Deep
Once OTA was well underway, it had 30-60 projects in progress,
published up to 55 reports, and started approximately 20 new projects
each year. Its work ran the gamut of subject matter, with approaches
tailored for each topic and congressional request. For example:
In 1975, one OTA program began a comprehensive policy analysis of the
Nation's energy future, which it provided incrementally throughout the
energy crisis.
Between 1975 and 1980, another OTA group set the stage for today's
booming industry in the technology assessment of health care by
demonstrating the inadequacy of information on which decisions about
technology were made; laying out the strengths and weaknesses of
methods to evaluate technology; and crystallizing the process by which
economic tradeoffs could be incorporated in decisions.
In 1979, OTA expanded its work in agriculture to include all
renewable resources and laid the foundation for others' efforts on
sustainable development and, later, ecosystem management.
One OTA group examined each key mode of transportation in turn,
focusing especially on urban transportation; better and less expensive
ways to move goods; and technologies which used less petroleum. Another
OTA program tracked materials through their total life-cycle--from
exploration and extraction through production to use, reuse, and
eventual disposal. A third investigated policies related to the private
use of Federal public lands and other resources, addressing questions
of public equity, the responsibility of industry, and the long-term
protection of the environment.
In sum, OTA brought new, old important science into the center of
many congressional discussions. At times, OTA took part in high-profile
debates on major pieces of legislation such as the 1980 Energy Security
Act; Superfund; the Clean Air Act; and the Foreign Assistance Act.
Also, the agency contributed to specific technical issues that puzzled
nontechnical congressional staff--from risk reform to long-term African
development; from acid rain to dismantling nuclear weapons; from the
Strategic Defense Initiative to policy body armor. One study on global
climate change helped Congress evaluate more than 131 pieces of
legislation. At its busiest, OTA's testimony for various committees
averaged more than once a week.
The executive branch and State governments were not outside the OTA
reach. OTA published the landmark work on computers in schools. This
eventually led to support for teachers as the way to make the best
investment in technology--a key policy change in education. OTA's
repeated work on the farm bill prompted important changes in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. And OTA's comprehensive series of analyses
on nuclear waste management set out issues of technology and policy for
both industry and the military.
careful analysis, shared with the world
In the course of every study, OTA accumulated vast amounts of raw
information. By a project's completion, OTA had created a report with
``value-added.'' OTA staff excelled at identifying the principal
strands of analysis, weighing the evidence of each, and synthesizing
essential pieces. The creed of OTA was to come as close as possible to
objective analysis. It was a point of pride when reports were cited
both by an issue's defenders and its detractors, as happened most
recently in debates regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement
and Oregon's Medicaid program.
The public and private sectors have recently discovered the benefits
of organizing work around functional teams. OTA started with this
model. It was used in every project. Team members came from different
disciplines and backgrounds, with different experiences and
perspectives, yet they always seemed to share a commitment to their
product and not incidently to the American people.
When work took OTA into new subject areas, staff broke ground for new
intellectual pursuits. This was true in risk policy. And it was true
when OTA developed the analytical methods to identify priorities for
agricultural conservation. During OTA's lifetime, ``international
interdependence'' changed from slogan to reality. OTA was ahead of the
curve, conducting international case studies and exploring previously
ignored aspects of international security. In fact, between 1985 and
1990, OTA's studies of the impacts of technology on the economy,
environment, and security of the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe made clear
that the demise of centrally planned economies was inevitable.
As a result of all this, OTA gradually became recognized worldwide as
the top institution of its kind. Representatives from about one-third
of the world's nations visited OTA one or more times to learn how OTA
worked; how it became so valuable to Congress and the American people;
and how these foreign nations might develop their own ``OTA's.''
Austria, Denmark, the European Community, France, Germany, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden have copied or adapted the OTA
style. Similar organizations are being discussed or formed in Hungary,
Japan, Mexico, the People's Republic of China, Russia, Switzerland, and
Taiwan.
The above is simply the most visible aspect of OTA's international
impact. Visitors from other countries stopped by OTA almost every week
to discuss specific technologies or technology-related issues. Several
OTA staff spoke frequently about OTA in other countries. A number
accepted temporary details to academic or government positions
overseas. And still others traveled abroad to teach short courses on
technology assessment.
the written word
In its 24 years, OTA published nearly 750 full assessments,
background papers, technical memoranda, case studies, and workshop
proceedings. OTA reports were recorded as being ``remarkably useful,''
``thorough,'' ``comprehensive,'' ``rigorous.'' At their best, OTA
reports were among the most cited references on their subjects.
``Landmarks,'' they were called, ``definitive,'' and the ``best
available primers.'' From 1992 to 1994, twelve assessments won the
National Association for Government Communicator's prestigious Blue
Pencil Award, successfully competing against as many as 850 other
publications in a single year. In the same 3 years, 12 additional
reports were named among the 60 Notable Government Documents slected
annually by the American Library Association's Government Documents
Round Table--representing the best Federal, State, and local government
documents from around the world.
In typical comments, the journal Foreign Affairs claimed that, ``The
Office of Technology Assessment does some of the best writing on
security-related technical issues in the United States.'' A former
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative called OTA's 1992 report on trade and
the environment, ``the Bible.'' A Senator described OTA's work on the
civilian impacts of defense downsizing as `` * * * a superb study and
the standard by which all similar efforts will be judged.'' And the
head of one state's plant protection agency described OTA's study of
non-indigenous species as `` * * * a benchmark which will be the most
heavily referenced document for years to come.''
OTA's reports were often bestsellers at the Government Printing
Office and the National Technical Information Service: GPO sold 48,000
OTA reports in 1980 alone. Commercial publishers reprinted at least 65
and translated two reports all or in part. The Superintendent of
Documents selected 27 OTA reports to display in the People's Republic
of China in 1981. And OTA itself reissued reports that had unusual
staying power. For example, OTA's 1975 report on tanker safety and the
prevention of oil spills was reissued in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez
accident. Likewise, OTA combined the summaries of two particularly
popular reports--on tropical forests and biological diversity--and
reprinted them in 1992.
the people behind the projects
OTA staff represented every major field of science and technology,
ranging from board-certified internists to Ph.D. physicists. OTA staff
were sought out to serve their respective professional associations. A
number were elected to offices or boards--the International
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Society for Technology Assessment, the International Association for
Impact Assessment, the Association for Women in Development, the
Ecological Society of America, etc. Two staff formed the Risk
Assessment and Policy Association and others went on to found their own
companies.
Above all else, OTA staff were teachers. As a result of their
efforts, hundreds of thousands of people are better informed not only
about science and technology but also about the structure and function
of Congress. OTA served 30-60 congressional committee and subcommittees
each year. Thirty-one Senators and Representatives had the privilege to
serve on OTA's Technology Assessment Board and we became among the
Congress' most knowledgeable members on issues of science and
technology.
Each year, at least several hundred advisory panelists and workshop
participants also took part in OTA's work. Some years, OTA tapped as
many as 1,500 leaders from academia, non-governmental groups, State and
local governments, and industry. OTA's advisors valued the experience
and said it made them more fit for decisionmaking in their own fields.
Some were experts; some were stakeholders. Still other were members of
the larger public. As early as 1975, OTA incorporated public
participation and stakeholder involvement into a major study of
offshore energy development: Nearly 15,000 people were involved. Later
approximately 800 African farmers and herders were included in an
evaluation of the United States-funded African Development Foundation.
In addition, OTA provided 71 scientists and engineers with a
challenging and memorable year on Capitol Hill as Morris K. Udall
Congressional Fellows or congressional fellows in health policy. Many
of OTA's younger employees gained a taste for research--and for public
service--at OTA and went on to graduate school to become the next
generation of business leaders, scientists, engineers, and policy
analysts.
OTA's record depended upon remarkable support staff as much as it did
on the agency's analytical staff. Their work was the standard against
which other Government agencies were measured--and often found lacking.
People came from around the world to attend OTA meetings--and often
commented that OTA's workshops were the most well supported, best
organized, and most productive they had ever attended. Contractors were
gratified by the ease with which their travel arrangements and invoices
were handled. OTA processed hundreds of security clearances efficiently
and without incident--without which OTA could not have done its work in
national defense. Reports sped through OTA's publishing process and
grew steadily more attractive through the years. The staff of OTA's
Information Center could find even the most obscure research material--
and provided a friendly agencywide gathering place. The Information
Center, the technical support office, and the agency's electronic
dissemination program kept OTA at the cutting edge of technology for
research and for public access to the agency's work.
OTA was a small agency. It was a generous place. For some, colleagues
became like second families and these relationships extended to
committee and personal staffs. Friendship, joy, and grief seemed to be
shared without regard to job description. Many at OTA value this legacy
as much as any other. But of course, OTA was not perfect. At times, its
greatest strengths--flexibility, tolerance, the preponderance of
technical skills--became its biggest weaknesses. One outsider looked at
OTA's work and commented, ``You must have just about the most
interesting job there is.'' I know that many at OTA, for much of their
time, felt exactly that way.
Although OTA closes on September 29, 1995, the Congress will continue
to benefit from its work. Stark evidence of the dedication of OTA staff
is the fact that they continued working to the end. More than 30
reports will be delivered to requesting committees even after the doors
are closed.
OTA soon will be a memory, and we will discover what is lost. But we
can salvage something. Those of us who have used OTA reports know that
most of them have long shelf lives. The really important issues--the
issues OTA worked on--do not get solved and go away in one Congress. In
January 1996, all of OTA's reports will be issued on CD-ROM--OTA's
final legacy. We should be proud of it.
____________________
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