Since its creation in 1972, OTA had produced nearly 800 reports covering broad topics in energy, materials, bioengineering, medicine, telecommunications and computers, space, agriculture, education, transportation, and other areas of applied science and engineering. All projects responded to requests from congressional committees, but finished reports were delivered simultaneously to Congress and to the public. Occasionally an OTA report had a clear, identifiable impact on a congressional decision or on a federal program-for example, the "Star Wars" controversy of the Reagan years. More often, the effects were more subtle and indirect, as Congress reacted to influential constituents or to the media, who in turn were influenced by OTA's analysis of an issue or a technological development.
The Republican leadership sought to eliminate OTA, they said, to demonstrate their commitment to downsizing the federal government by beginning in their own backyard. Other factors were clearly also at play, however. Because the Democratic ...
