Annex: Outline of the Committee's visit
to Washington DC, 22nd - 24th June 1998
SCIENTIFIC ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT IN THE
USA
22nd June 1998
Evening briefing with British
Embassy staff
Mr Christopher Whaley, Counsellor (Science
& Technology, Energy Environment)
Ms Philippa Rogers, First Secretary (Science & Technology)
23rd June 1998
Meetings at the British Embassy
Professor Chris Hill, Vice President for Research and Professor
of Public Policy, George Mason University
Dr Albert Teich, Director of Science and Policy Programs, American
Association for the Advancement of Science
John Covver, Former Director of Medical Technology Assessment,
Health Insurance Association of America
Topics discussed: The scientific advisory system within the US
Congressional System and at the White House; the science budget
and congressional scrutiny of the science budget; R&D funding;
the role of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
and the former Office of Technology Assessment; health insurance
and experimental treatments.
Meeting at the National Academy of Sciences
Dr Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences
Dr Bill Colglazier, Executive Officer, National Academy of Sciences
Dr Sherburne Abbot, Executive Director, Board of Sustainable Development
Dr Robert Cook-Deegan, Director, National Cancer Policy Board
Dr Kevin Cowley, Director, Board on Radioactive Waste Management
Topics discussed: The role of the National Academy of Science
and its parallel organisations (the National Research Council,
the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine)
in advice to Government; Global Change and the role of the Board
on Sustainable Development; the role of the National Cancer Policy
Board; the impact of NAS/NRC reports; the role of the Board on
Radioactive Waste Management; developments in genetics.
24th June 1998
Breakfast meeting
Dr Mike Tilsen Department of Energy
Mr Colin Norman Science Magazine
Dr Robert Frisk Congressional Research Service
Topics discussed: Science funding, US energy policy; US public
attitudes to climate change; the role of the Congressional Research
Service; the effectiveness of the National Academy of Science;
US media coverage of scientific issues.
Meetings at the House of Representatives
Representative Dr Vernon Ehlers, Vice Chairman of the Committee
on Science, House of Representatives
Representative George Brown, Ranking minority member (Democrat),
House Science Committee
Representative F James Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the House Science
Committee
Topics discussed: The role and work of the House Science Committee;
scientific advice within Congress; US science policy and the science
budget; the abolition of the Office of Technology Assessment;
the role of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; global
warming and the Kyoto Protocol.
Meeting with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
Dr Neal Lane, Director of the OSTP and Chief Scientific Advisor
to the President
Dr Arthur Bienenstock, Associate Director for Science
Ms Rachel Levinson, Assistant Director, Life Sciences
Topics discussed: The role of the OSTP and the Chief Scientific
Advisor to the President; their relationship with the President's
Committee of Advisors of Science and Technology (PCAST) and the
National Science and Technology Council (NCTC).
[An outline of the Committee's visit to Boston, 25th - 26th June
1998 was published as Annex 3 to the Committee's Report on Engineering
and Physical Sciences Based Innovation, Second Report of Session
1999-2000, HC 195-I.]
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