I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4670

To provide for the establishment of a Center for Scientific and Technical 

Assessment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2004

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GORDON, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. FROST, 

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a Center for Scientific 

and Technical Assessment.

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

3 SECTION 1. CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AS4 SESSMENT. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established a 

6 Center for Scientific and Technical Assessment (in this 

7 section referred to as the ‘‘Center’’) to provide timely ad8 vice to the Congress on scientific and technical aspects of 
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1 public policy issues. The Center shall be administered by 

2 a Director. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT BOARD.—

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—There 

5 shall be established a Technical Assessment Board 

6 whose purpose shall be to provide guidance to the 

7 Director of the Center to ensure that the Center 

8 provides timely and useful responses to congressional 

9 requests. 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Technical Assessment 

11 Board established under paragraph (1) shall consist 

12 of—

13 (A) 6 members of the Senate appointed by 

14 the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, in15 cluding 3 from the majority party and 3 from 

16 the minority party; 

17 (B) 6 members of the House of Represent18 atives appointed by the Speaker of the House of 

19 Representatives, including 3 from the majority 

20 party and 3 from the minority party; 

21 (C) the Comptroller General; and 

22 (D) the Director of the Congressional Re23 search Service and the Director of the Center, 

24 who shall be nonvoting members. 
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1 Service as a member on the Technical Assessment 

2 Board shall not be construed under the rules of the 

3 House of Representatives or the Senate as service as 

4 a member of a House of Representatives or Senate 

5 Committee. 

6 (3) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in the membership 

7 of the Technical Assessment Board shall not affect 

8 the authority of the remaining members to act, and 

9 such vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as 

10 in the case of the original appointment. 

11 (4) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—There 

12 shall be selected at the beginning of each Congress 

13 a chairman and a vice chairman, one of whom shall 

14 be a member of the Senate selected by the members 

15 of the Technical Assessment Board who are mem16 bers of the Senate from among their number, and 

17 one of whom shall be a member of the House of 

18 Representatives selected by the members of the 

19 Technical Assessment Board who are members of 

20 the House of Representatives from among their 

21 number. The chairmanship and vice chairmanship 

22 shall alternate between the Senate and the House of 

23 Representatives with each year. The chairman dur24 ing each odd-numbered year shall be a member of 

25 the House of Representatives. The vice chairman 
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1 shall act in the place of the chairman in the absence 

2 of the chairman. 

3 (5) AUTHORITY TO ACT.—The Technical As4 sessment Board established under this subsection 

5 may sit and act at such places and times as it choos6 es, including during the sessions, recesses, and ad7 journed periods of Congress. 

8 (c) DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Director of the Center 

10 shall be appointed by the Comptroller General with 

11 the approval of the Technical Assessment Board and 

12 shall serve for a term of 6 years unless sooner re13 moved by the Technical Assessment Board. The Di14 rector shall receive basic pay at the rate provided for 

15 level III of the Executive Schedule under section 

16 5314 of title 5, United States Code. 

17 (2) POWERS AND DUTIES.—In addition to the 

18 powers and duties vested by this section, the Direc19 tor shall exercise such powers and duties as may be 

20 delegated by the Technical Assessment Board. The 

21 Director, with the permission of the Comptroller 

22 General, shall have the authority to hire, remove, or 

23 promote permanent staff and enter into contracts 

24 for consultants, expert analysis, and peer reviewers 

25 described in subsection (f). In consultation with the 
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1 Technical Assessment Board and with the approval 

2 of the Comptroller General, the Director shall pre3 pare the annual budget for the Center for submis4 sion to Congress. 

5 (3) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Director may ap6 point, with the approval of the Comptroller General, 

7 a Deputy Director who shall perform such functions 

8 as the Director may prescribe and who shall be Act9 ing Director during the absence or incapacity of the 

10 Director or in the event of a vacancy in the office 

11 of Director. The Deputy Director shall receive basic 

12 pay at the rate provided for level IV of the Executive 

13 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (4) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Neither the Di16 rector nor the Deputy Director shall engage in any 

17 other business, vocation, or employment than that of 

18 serving as such Director or Deputy Director, as the 

19 case may be; nor shall the Director or Deputy Direc20 tor, except with the approval of the Comptroller 

21 General, hold any office in, or act in any capacity 

22 for, any organization, agency, or institution with 

23 which the Center makes any contract or other ar24 rangement under this section. 

25 (d) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any member of Congress 

2 may make requests to the Technical Assessment 

3 Board that the Center conduct an investigation and 

4 report to the requester, within a specified time pe5 riod, on any matter relating to scientific and tech6 nical assessment. 

7 (2) FORMAL CALLS FOR REQUESTS.—The 

8 chairman of the Technical Assessment Board estab9 lished under subsection (b) shall submit to all mem10 bers of Congress formal calls for requests under this 

11 subsection. 

12 (3) PRIORITIZATION.—Requests under para13 graph (1) shall be addressed by the Center in ac14 cordance with the following priority order: 

15 (A) Requests with bipartisan and bi16 cameral support. 

17 (B) Requests with bipartisan support. 

18 (C) Requests from other members. 

19 The Director, with the approval of the Technical As20 sessment Board, may determine the final priority for 

21 consideration of and fulfilling requests among and 

22 within each category described in subparagraphs (A) 

23 through (C). 

24 (e) ADVISORY PANELS.—The Director may establish 

25 an advisory panel as necessary to support each technical 
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1 assessment report provided by the Center. Such panels 

2 shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee 

3 Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

4 (f) PEER REVIEW.—Each report requested under 

5 this subsection shall be subject to peer review before deliv6 ery to the committee or member of Congress requesting 

7 the report. Such peer review shall consist of rigorous vet8 ting, checking, criticism, and recommendations for im9 provement by independent, qualified experts in the various 

10 aspects of the subject of the request under study. Inde11 pendent experts shall assess each Center report by consid12 ering the scientific method, factual accuracy, results, and 

13 conclusions put forward by the authors. The peer review14 ers’ comments shall be given to the report authors to allow 

15 for change, improvement, and modification of the report 

16 before delivery to the Director. After final review by the 

17 Director, and the approval of the Technical Assessment 

18 Board, the report shall be delivered to the committee or 

19 member of Congress requesting the report. 

20 (g) PUBLIC RELEASE.—Except for classified reports, 

21 the Center, with the permission of the Technical Assess22 ment Board, shall promptly release a report requested 

23 under subsection (d) to the public, except that such release 

24 shall be delayed by not more than 2 weeks at the request 
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1 of the Technical Assessment Board or a member of Con2 gress. 

3 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Comptroller Gen5 eral for carrying out this section $30,000,000 for each of 

6 the fiscal years 2005 through 2007, to remain available 

7 until expended.

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