I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4426 

To rename the Office of Technology Assessment as the Congressional Office 

of Technology, to revise the functions and duties of the Office, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To rename the Office of Technology Assessment as the Congressional Office of Technology, to revise the functions 

and duties of the Office, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Technology 

5 Assessment Improvement and Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RENAMING OF OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESS2 MENT AS CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE OF TECH3 NOLOGY. 

4 (a) RENAMING.—Section 3(a) of the Technology As5 sessment Act of 1972 (2 U.S.C. 472(a)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘the Office of Technology Assessment’’ and in7 serting ‘‘the Congressional Office of Technology’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5(b) of 

9 such Act (2 U.S.C. 474(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘Direc10 tor of the Office of Technology Assessment’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘Director of the Congressional Office of Technology’’. 

12 (c) REFERENCES IN LAW.—Any reference in any law, 

13 rule, or regulation to the Office of Technology Assessment 

14 shall be deemed to be a reference to the Congressional Of15 fice of Technology. 

16 SEC. 3. REVISION OF FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE. 

17 (a) BASIC FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES.—Section 3(c) of 

18 the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (2 U.S.C. 472(c)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

21 inserting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘This 

22 information should be provided as expeditiously, ef23 fectively, and efficiently as possible while maintain24 ing a forward-looking, holistic, and rigorous ap25 proach to the assessment of the impacts of tech26 nology.’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘completed 

2 analyses’’ and inserting ‘‘completed analyses, as well 

3 as preliminary findings of ongoing analyses,’’; 

4 (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (7); 

6 (4) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(9) provide information to Members and com11 mittees of Congress in the form of briefings, infor12 mal conversations, documents, and similar formats 

13 which may be provided expeditiously on the basis of 

14 existing research and staff expertise without the 

15 need for review by the Board; 

16 ‘‘(10) provide technical assistance to Members 

17 of Congress on legislation related to science and 

18 technology which may be provided expeditiously on 

19 the basis of existing research and staff expertise 

20 without the need for review by the Board; and 

21 ‘‘(11) when requested, provide objective policy 

22 options to Members on how Members may achieve 

23 goals with respect to science and technology policy.’’. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIATION OF ASSESS2 MENT ACTIVITIES.—Section 3(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

3 472(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(d)(1) Assessment activities undertaken by the Of5 fice may be initiated upon the request of— 

6 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), any Member of 

7 Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commis8 sioner to the Congress), any standing, special, or se9 lect committee of either House of Congress, or any 

10 joint committee of Congress; 

11 ‘‘(B) the Board; or 

12 ‘‘(C) the Director, in consultation with the 

13 Board. 

14 ‘‘(2) A Member of Congress or committee requesting 

15 that the Office undertake an assessment activity under 

16 paragraph (1)(A) shall submit the request to the Board, 

17 which shall review the request. The Office shall determine 

18 whether or not to undertake an assessment activity in re19 sponse to such a request in accordance with such policies 

20 and procedures as the Office shall establish, under 

21 which— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Office may give priority to those re23 quests which, in the Board’s determination, relate to 

24 technology issues of the greatest relevance and im25 portance; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to the greatest extent practicable, the Of2 fice shall ensure that the number of assessment ac3 tivities undertaken during a year in response to re4 quests which are submitted by members of one polit5 ical party is equal to the number of assessment ac6 tivities undertaken in response to requests which are 

7 submitted by members of another political party; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, the Of10 fice shall provide the Member or committee submit11 ting the request with information regarding how the 

12 Office reached its determination in response to the 

13 request.’’. 

14 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF FINDINGS OF COM15 PLETED ANALYSES.—Section 3(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

16 472(e)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘may be made avail17 able to the public’’ the following: ‘‘(and, in the case of 

18 findings of completed analyses, shall be made available to 

19 the public)’’. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZING APPOINTMENT OF TECHNICAL

21 AND PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL ON LEAVE FROM ACA22 DEMIC, INDUSTRIAL, OR RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.—Sec23 tion 6(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 475(f)) is amended by add24 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Director 

25 may, under the authority provided by this subsection and 


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1 in accordance with such policies as the Board chooses to 

2 prescribe, appoint for a limited term, or on a temporary 

3 basis, scientists, engineers, and other technical and profes4 sional personnel on leave of absence from academic, indus5 trial, or research institutions to work for the Office.’’. 

6 (e) AVOIDING UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION OF RE7 SEARCH ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER OFFICES.— 

8 (1) CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE.—Sec9 tion 8 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 477) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(e) The Office and the Congressional Research Serv12 ice shall coordinate technology assessment activities to 

13 avoid unnecessary duplication or overlapping of research 

14 activities.’’. 

15 (2) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.— 

16 Section 9 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 478) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) The Office and the Government Accountability 

19 Office shall coordinate technology assessment activities to 

20 avoid unnecessary duplication or overlapping of research 

21 activities.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT BOARD. 

23 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF BOARD BY CON24 GRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP.—Section 4(a) of the TechVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4426.IH H4426

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1 nology Assessment Act of 1972 (2 U.S.C. 473) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘appointed by 

4 the President pro tempore of the Senate’’ and in5 serting ‘‘appointed jointly by the Majority Leader 

6 and the Minority Leader of the Senate’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘appointed by 

8 the Speaker of the House of Representatives’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘appointed jointly by the Speaker and Mi10 nority Leader of the House of Representatives’’. 

11 (b) INVITATION TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO AT12 TEND ANNUAL MEETING OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

13 BOARD; ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 4 of such Act (2 

14 U.S.C. 473) is amended by adding at the end the following 

15 new subsections: 

16 ‘‘(e) At least once during each calendar year, the 

17 Board shall hold a meeting at which Members of Congress 

18 may appear and present information to the Board regard19 ing any technology assessment activities the Members may 

20 wish the Board to undertake. 

21 ‘‘(f) Not later than 90 days after the end of each cal22 endar year, the Board shall submit to the Subcommittees 

23 on the Legislative Branch of the Committees on Appro24 priations of the House of Representatives and Senate a 

25 report on the activities of the Office during the year, and 


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1 shall include in the report a description of the technology 

2 assessment activities undertaken by the Office during the 

3 year, including the number of requests received from 

4 Members and committees of Congress under section 

5 2(d)(1)(A), the number and type of assessment activities 

6 undertaken in response to such requests, and the current 

7 status of such assessment activities.’’. 

Æ 


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