News and Views...
ACS Washington News Bureau
•Q
By I L
C
ON .scien tists and technical men, the National Science Foundation Act, died in the House* Interstate Commerce Committee on July 10 and will now have to be revived during the next session. For more than a year National Science? Foundation legislation has been bettered about the halls of Congress. Various minority cliques in Congress have de layed debates on this measure by intro ducing stopgap bills t o spite their op ponents. Industrial lobbyists have been active against this bill and various scien tific organizations, disagreeing amoiifs; themselves and confusing congressional proponents, have contributed to the fail ure of this necessary legislation. Since July 19, 1945, when Senator Kilgore introduced S. 1285 in the Senate and Representative Mills presented at partner bill, H.R. 3852, in the House, moro than 10 bills have been introduced for a National Science Foundation. Οι* VOLUME
2 4,
NO.
15
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L E G G I N , Associate
Editor
July 23, 104."), a Foundation bill was introduced by Senator Kilgore and referred to the «Senate Military Affairs Commit tee. This committee reported out favor ably a compromise bill, R. 1850, on April li>." Since no action was being taken by the Senate on S. 1850, Mr. Mills on May 15 reintroduced his bill as U.K. G448, which was referred to the House Interstate Commerce Committee. Many other bills such as the Willis Hill (S. 1777) and the Coller Hill (H.R. 6672) were introduced as political stopgaps, but the Senate on July 3 passed S. 1850, after many days of heated debate and attempts b y the minority groups to kill this legislation. S. 1850 w a s then sent to the House wluM-e it was referred to the House Inter state Commerce Committee which al ready had H.R. 6448 in its Public Health subcommittee. The subcommittee, under Representa tive Priest, did not take action on S. 1850 hut reported out H.R. 6448. On July 19 the main committee reported out H.R. 644S with amendments and asked that further action not be taken until the next session of Congress. Representative Lea, chairman of the committee, announced that further action on this bill was being held for the n e x t session due t o its im|)ortancc. Atomic
Energy
Act
Probably the m o s t controversial science legislation in Congress this past year was llio Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (S. 1717), which passed b o t h houses on July 19. After many m o n t h s of committee hear ings, hundreds of pages of testimony, lobbying by political, industrial, and sci entific groups, and heated debates on the lloors of Congress, the measure managed to weather t h e storm and become law. T h e present a c t is substantially the same as the original bill drawn up by Senator McMahon's special Senate Atomic liiicrgy C o m m i t t e e with a few minor amendments and concessions to the mili tary. On June 1 the Senate passed S. 1717 without amendment by an overwhelming majority. T h e bill was then sent to the House Military Affairs Committee where a number of amendments in favor of the military were added. On the House floor party opposition was quite hectic and the opponents of t h e bill added more than 70 amendments. Numerous attempts to recommit t h e bill were made, but on each AUGUST
10,
1946
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occasion were defeated by small majorities. The House version called for at least one member o f the five-man commission to be a military man and the director of the Military Applications division also to be from the armed servie*.-. There would be no dissemination of atomic energy facts to foreign nations. The hous«? also com pletely revised the patent provisions of the bill. The joint conference of both houses sided with the Senate version and made only minor concessions to the military. Most of the major House amendments were eliminated, making the five-maD commission completely civilian and re storing the original McMahon patent provisions which gave the commission complete authority over atomic energy patents. The conferees also agreed that the director of the Military Applications Division should be a military man and that t h e President could authorize the armed forces to manufacture atomic weapons as he deems necessary. The Act now appears to be acceptable to both military and scientific groups. Selective Service With the latest selective service inter pretation of Public Law 473, Selective Service Act, the chemical industry and universities have been quite concerned over tli3 deferment of chemists and chemi cal engineers. Selective Service Headquarters, on July 22, issued to local draft boards a re vised memorandum N o . 115. Under the provisions of this memo randum men between the ages of 19 through 29 may be deferred if the local board finds that they are ^replaceable and indispensable to an activity essential to the national existence. Ttus activity must be one of such importance that its description would adversely -fiect the physical well-being, public safety, or eco nomic life of the community or nation. This interpretation is that of Selective Service Headquarters, since such con fining qualifications are not written in the law. T h e provisions of the Selective Serv ice A c t state that the President may defer "those men whose employment in industry, agriculture or other occupa tions or employment, or whose activity in other endeavors is found to be neces sary t o the maintenance of the national health, safety or interest". It was on this basis that the joint con(Continued on page 2100) 2005
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N e w s a n d Views {Continued from page 2005) ference of t h e House and Senate stated that no provisions for group deferment of scientists were required, since the wording of the law permitted deferment of this group. M e m o N o . 11δ Μ, concerning educa tional institutions, has now been com bined with N o . 115. T h e new provisions state that teachers of physical sciences and professional courses, members of the staff conducting research, and graduate students m a y be deferred if they arc certi fied by the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Requests previously submitted t o O S R D will be renewed but only 500 new certifications will be granted. Undergraduates will n o t be certified for deferment. Form 42A (revised—special) will be used in making requests for nil occupational deferment. However, since t h e release of this memo, efforts have been made i n Wash ington to ease the provisions f o r defer ments of educators and technician men. I t is understood from reliable sources that M e m o 115 i s being modified. T h e quota of 500 new certifications for university teachers a n d scientific personnel will b e eliminated and a group certification for all teachers of physical sciences a n d other professional courses, graduate students, and research personnel will be provided. It is expected that approximately 5,000 teachers and scientists will be deferred under this new regulation, (fortification of teachers will be handled b y t h e United States Office of Education while all grad uate students and research personnel in universities will be processed by O S R D . Provisions for individual deferment of certain industrial technical personnel and skilled technicians in key operating posi-
CHEMICAL
tions are also to be added. Certification for industrial personnel will probably be handled by ΟΡΑ a n d National Housing Authority. These recent changes resulted from a White House conference when O W M l t indicated t o Selective Service headquarters the need for the deferment of scientific personnel. VISESCO With the passage, b y Congress, of H . J. Resolution 305, t h e United S t a t e s will now become an active member of t h e United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization. Fourteen nations had signed previous t o the United S t a t e s entry, but twenty nations are required before the organization goes into effect. This approved measure n o w permits the American representatives t o attend the International General Conference in Paris in November. H.J. R e s . 305 pro vides for n o t more than five representa t i v e s and five alternates t o t h e general conference. A national commission on educational, scientific, a n d cultural cooperation o f n o t more than 100 members, t o be appointed b y the Secretary of State, is also e s t a b lished. N o t more than 60 members shall be from voluntary organizations inter e s t e d in education, science, o r cultural matters a n d not more than 4 0 members from other groups a s follows: 10 e m ployed by t h e U. S. Government, 15 from educational, scientific, and cultural inter e s t s of local and state governments, and 15 chosen at large. Funds are -provided to cover the United States' share of t h e world organization and the operational expenses of t h e na tional commission. Members of t h e commission d o not receive salaries.
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