Congressman Rush Holt pushes to reopen the OTA!
Originally uploaded by scicheer
Tuesday 3/24, the Science Cheerleader met with Congressman Rush Holt (NJ) and his Congressional Fellow Will ONeal to talk about reopening the Office of Technology Assessment (see link below for background) with a greater emphasis on public participation efforts. Congressman Holt (a physicist) is the tireless advocate in Congress who has been pushing for the appropriation of funds to reopen the OTA. On April 3, he will submit a formal request for funds and on May 5 he will argue his case before the full Appropriations Committee.
So very refreshing that he “gets” the significance of playing up the public participation aspect.
The Executive Branch (Obama) has no shortage of science and engineering advice on policy issues as well as programs to open bidirectional conversations with the public on key policy issues. Why shouldn’t Congress have the same resources available to them?
It can be done through one, lean, smart office: the Office of Technology Assessment.
I’m hoping he will insert such language in his short request/justification for funds. Stay tuned. He might need our help in garnering more support from particular Congressional members….
Background on the OTA.
Join the OTA Facebook Discussion.
Tags: Congressman Rush Holt, OTA
March 31st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
[...] own legislator Rush Holt of Princeton, New Jersey, is now pushing to bring it back. See the details here from Science Cheerleader, who wants not only to reopen OTA but to include a more significant public [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:15 pm
[...] Fellow Will O’Neal to talk about reopening OTA. She discusses their meeting in her blog post. The Science Cheerleader points out, “The Executive Branch (Obama) has no shortage of [...]
April 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
[...] Just because bring OTA back makes so much sense doesn’t mean it’s going to just happen on its own. Perhaps we need a blog coalition–it worked for Science Debate 2008. Darlene? [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am
[...] time we held him to that. Blogger Darlene Cavalier met with Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) recently, and he will be pushing to reopen the OTA. In early [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 10:56 am
[...] time we held him to that. Blogger Darlene Cavalier met with Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) recently, and he will be pushing to reopen the OTA. In early [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 11:25 am
[...] to know more or how you can help? Go here. Categories: Uncategorized Posted By: Horse Last Edit: 08 Apr 2009 @ 10 25 AM Email • [...]
August 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
The United States of America is in danger of becoming more a nation of talkers rather than one of doers. The failure to relaunch the OTA in spite of the significant support that this much discussed initiative has is one indication of this dismaying trend. The anti=intellectual Reaganites were so eager to kill off the OTA that they fail do act legislatively. They simply “de-funded” it. So, de jure all that is needed is for some funds, even a token amount to get the ball rolling, be allocated, an office found and a staff put in place. For a start, it could even been staffed by volunteers, there is nothing in law to prevent this.
So what are you folks waiting for?