I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5055 

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 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. CASTEN, and Mr. BEYER) 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(a) of 

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

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

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading of section 

13 3 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘OFFICE OF TECH14 NOLOGY ASSESSMENT’’ and inserting ‘‘CONGRESSIONAL

15 OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY’’. 

16 (d) REFERENCES IN LAW.—Any reference in any 

17 law, rule, or regulation to the Office of Technology Assess18 ment shall be deemed to be a reference to the Congres19 sional Office of Technology. 

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

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

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

23 is amended— 

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

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

26 information should be provided as expeditiously, efVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Aug 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5055.IH H5055

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1 fectively, and efficiently as possible while maintain2 ing a forward-looking, holistic, and rigorous ap3 proach to the assessment of the impacts of tech4 nology.’’; 

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

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

7 as preliminary findings of ongoing analyses,’’; 

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

9 (7); 

10 (4) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

13 paragraphs: 

14 ‘‘(9) provide information to Members and com15 mittees of Congress in the form of briefings, infor16 mal conversations, documents, and similar formats 

17 which may be provided expeditiously on the basis of 

18 existing research and staff expertise without the 

19 need for review by the Board; 

20 ‘‘(10) provide technical assistance to Members 

21 of Congress on legislation related to science and 

22 technology which may be provided expeditiously on 

23 the basis of existing research and staff expertise 

24 without the need for review by the Board; and 


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

2 options to Members of Congress on how the Mem3 bers may achieve goals with respect to science and 

4 technology policy.’’. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIATION OF ASSESS6 MENT ACTIVITIES.—Section 3(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

7 472(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(d)(1) Assessment activities undertaken by the Of9 fice may be initiated upon the request of— 

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

11 Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commis12 sioner to the Congress), any standing, special, or se13 lect committee of either House of Congress, or any 

14 joint committee of Congress; 

15 ‘‘(B) the Board; or 

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

17 Board. 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) A Member of Congress or committee request19 ing that the Office undertake an assessment activity under 

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

21 which shall review the request. 

22 ‘‘(B) The Office shall determine whether or not to 

23 undertake an assessment activity in response to such a 

24 request in accordance with such policies and procedures 

25 as the Office shall establish, under which— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Office may give priority to those re2 quests which, in the Board’s determination, relate to 

3 technology issues of the greatest relevance and im4 portance; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to the greatest extent practicable, the Of6 fice shall ensure that the number of assessment ac7 tivities undertaken during a year in response to re8 quests which are submitted by members of one polit9 ical party is equal to the number of assessment ac10 tivities undertaken in response to requests which are 

11 submitted by members of another political party; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) to the greatest extent practicable, the Of14 fice shall provide the Member of Congress or com15 mittee submitting the request with information re16 garding how the Office reached its determination in 

17 response to the request.’’. 

18 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF FINDINGS OF COM19 PLETED ANALYSES.—Section 3(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

20 472(e)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph 

21 (1), in the second sentence, by inserting after ‘‘may be 

22 made available to the public’’ the following: ‘‘(and, in the 

23 case of findings of completed analyses, shall be made avail24 able to the public)’’. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZING APPOINTMENT OF TECHNICAL

2 AND PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL ON LEAVE FROM ACA3 DEMIC, INDUSTRIAL, OR RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.—Sec4 tion 6(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 475(f)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Director 

6 may, under the authority provided by this subsection and 

7 in accordance with such policies as the Board chooses to 

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

9 basis, scientists, engineers, and other technical and profes10 sional personnel on leave of absence from academic, indus11 trial, or research institutions to work for the Office.’’. 

12 (e) AVOIDING UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION OF RE13 SEARCH ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER OFFICES.— 

14 (1) CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE.—Sec15 tion 8 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 477) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) The Office and the Congressional Research Serv18 ice shall coordinate technology assessment activities to 

19 avoid unnecessary duplication or overlapping of research 

20 activities.’’. 

21 (2) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.— 

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

23 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

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

25 Office shall coordinate technology assessment activities to 


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1 avoid unnecessary duplication or overlapping of research 

2 activities.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT BOARD. 

4 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF BOARD BY CON5 GRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP.—Section 4(a) of the Tech6 nology Assessment Act of 1972 (2 U.S.C. 473(a)) is 

7 amended— 

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

9 the President pro tempore of the Senate’’ and in10 serting ‘‘appointed jointly by the Majority Leader 

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

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

13 the Speaker of the House of Representatives’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘appointed jointly by the Speaker and Mi15 nority Leader of the House of Representatives’’. 

16 (b) INVITATION TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO AT17 TEND ANNUAL MEETING OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

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

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

20 new subsections: 

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

22 Board shall hold a meeting at which Members of Congress 

23 may appear and present information to the Board regard24 ing any technology assessment activities the Members may 

25 wish the Board to undertake. 


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1 ‘‘(f) Not later than 90 days after the end of each cal2 endar year, the Board shall submit to the Subcommittees 

3 on the Legislative Branch of the Committees on Appro4 priations of the House of Representatives and the Senate 

5 a report on the activities of the Office during the year, 

6 and shall include in the report a description of the tech7 nology assessment activities undertaken by the Office dur8 ing the year, including the number of requests received 

9 from Members and committees of Congress under section 

10 3(d)(1)(A), the number and type of assessment activities 

11 undertaken in response to such requests, and the current 

12 status of such assessment activities.’’. 

Æ 


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