“Taken from House Report 104-676
FY 1997 House Report…”

TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION

OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY/OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The Committee recommends $5,000,000 for the Technology Administration's Office of the Under Secretary/Office of Technology Policy. This amount is a reduction of $4,531,000 from the budget request, $2,000,000 below the amount appropriated for the current fiscal year, and $1,000,000 below the actual base operating level for fiscal year 1996.

The primary mission of the organizations funded under this account is to coordinate the Administration's civilian technology initiative. Considering the program reductions and eliminations made in the Commerce technology programs, the Committee believes that the proposed funding level is appropriate. The amount provided will ensure the elimination of current redundancies in the bureaucracy overseeing NIST technology programs.

The Committee believes that greater partnerships with the private sector to conduct industry competitiveness assessments, including foreign technology assessments, will result in better assessments at lower cost to the Federal government. Therefore, the Committee expects the Technology Administration, within existing resources, to conduct a pilot project to accept and fund proposals from private-sector entities to provide such services, including but not limited to foreign competitive technology assessments. The Committee expects such proposals will be conducted on a cost share basis, with private-sector entities contributing no less than 20 percent of the project's cost.