Last week, I wrote that the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee had restored the funding for the Office of Technology Assessment, a nonpartisan technology research agency that was defunded in 1995. Initially we were told that the subcommittee reestablished the OTA with $2.5 million in funding but as more information has come out I have to change what was reported last week. According to Technology Daily's Aliya Sternstein, the $2.5 million appropriated by the subcommittee was directed to the General Accounting Office to do technology studies. This is still a great step forward as the GAO is respected for its research and, unlike CRS, posts all of its research online for the general public. This is a great victory for anyone wants members of Congress to have access to the best technology research available. The Sunlight Foundation is especially excited about future reports on how Internt techonology can improve the way Congress relates to the public. If you want to look at what these reports might look like check out this OTA report from 1988 titled, "Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age."

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Lawmakers renewed funding for the Office of Technology Assessment yesterday at a markup for the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill. We don't have full details yet but the subcommittee approved $2.5 million to reestablish the OTA, which will provide nonpartisan technological and scientific research to members of Congress and the general public. Congress has finally reversed what science blogger Chris Mooney called a "stunning act of self-lobotomy." Let us all rejoice in knowing that Congress has its brain back again. This will hopefully bring new research that will support our mission to use Internet technologies to make the Congress more open, transparent, and accessible to the public.

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The Sunlight Foundation has sent a letter endorsing a renewed Office of Techonology Assessment to Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Zach Wamp. Wasserman Schultz was supposed to hold a markup today that would have addressed the OTA but it has been pushed back to Wednesday. That means you still have time to contact your member of Congress and let them know that you support the OTA and that they should send the "Dear Colleague" letter they received from Reps. Rush Holt and Michael Castle to Wasserman Schultz and Wamp. Check out this blog post from last week for full directions on how you can get involved. The endorsement letter is below the fold:

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In 1995 Congress defunded the Office of Technology Assessment, a nonpartisan scientific and technology research arm of Congress. Today, two congressmen are trying to bring it back. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) need your help to reinstate this important institution in Congress. The OTA would provide nonpartisan research on technology issues ranging from energy independence to net neutrality. Here at Sunlight we are especially excited about the reinstatement of OTA as it would provide members of Congress with assessment of the technology infrastructure within Congress itself. The OTA would also put all of its research online for everyone to access.

On Monday, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a markup that will address the OTA. We need you to call your member of Congress and tell them to 1) support the reinstatement of the OTA and 2) to sign the Dear Colleague letter that they received from Reps. Rush Holt and Michael Castle and return it to Reps. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Zach Wamp. When Congress defunded the OTA one of its supporters, Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY), said, "Members of Congress are deluged with advice from many quarters, but it is often tinged with the underlying bias and political agenda of the bearer. … We are cutting off one of the most important arms of Congress when we cut off unbiased knowledge about science and technology." It's time to bring back the OTA and unbiased research on science and technology. Call your congressman now!

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