S. HRG. Y 4. G74 19:5. hrg. 44-3462-327 CIS RECORD ONLY: JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL EFFICIENCY OF THE COMMITTEE ON AND THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS NINETY-NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 30, 1985 Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS TED STEVENS, Alaska WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR., Delaware, Chairman CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS, JR., Maryland DAVE DURENBERGER, Minnesota THOMAS F. EAGLETON, Missouri JOHN GLENN, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan ALBERT GORE, JR., Tennessee JOHN M. DUNCAN, Staff Director CONTENTS Hon. Albert Gore, Jr., U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee.... A. Alan Hill, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office Danny Boggs, Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy. T. Kelley White, Director, International Economics Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, accompanied by Gerald Barney, deputy chairman, World Agricultural Outlook Board, and Richard McArdle, remote sensing coordi- nation, World Agricultural Outlook Board.... Lindsey Grant, retired Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment Responses to written questions..... Gibbons, John H., Director, Office of Technology Assessment "Federal Government Information Technology: Congressional Oversight and Page Statements of-Continued MacNeill, James, Secretary-General, World Commission on Environment and Development... de Lattre, Andre, Managing Director, The Institute of International Finance, Inc........ 249 254 Stoel, Thomas B., Jr., Director, National Resources Defense Council, Inc., 259 "Global Environmental Principles," paper presented by the United States to "Two Councils Created To Advise Reagan," from the Washington Post, Apr. "Improving the Government's Capacity to Analyze and Predict Conditions and Trends of Global Population, Resources, and Environment," report to the Council on Environmental Quality by Gerald O. Barney, May 14, 1982.... "The Global 2000 Reports," a survey of global foresight reports in other countries by Gerald O. Barney, Nov. 8, 1984. "Rural Development and Global Trends: Perspectives for the 1990-2010 Period-A Report with Suggestions for a Research Agenda," executive summary by Gerald O. Barney, Oct. 17, 1983... 264 265 266 267 272 284 "Congress's Foresight Needs to the Year 2000 and the Capacity of its Support Agencies To Assist in Meeting Those Needs," Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Sept. 23, 1985.... 289 "The Future of the Creation: The Central Challenge for Theologians," Gerald O. Barney, May 1985 304 GLOBAL FORESIGHT CAPABILITY OF U.S. GOVERNMENT TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1985 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL EFFI- Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Charles McC. Mathias and Hon. Robert T. Stafford (cochairmen) presiding. Present: Senators Mathias and Stafford. Also present: Senators Abdnor and Humphrey. Staff of the Subcommittee on Governmental Efficiency and the District of Columbia present: William C. Leonard, staff director; Marion Morris, professional staff member; Richard Weston, legislative director; Sandi Muschette, chief clerk; and Carrie Walters, intern. Staff of the Committee on Environment and Public Works present: Curtis Moore, counsel; Mark Haynes, professional staff member; Charlie Richmond; Gordon MacDonald; and Justin Lancaster, fellow. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MATHIAS Senator MATHIAS. The committee will come to order. The purpose of the hearing today is to explore the continuing capacity and capability of the U.S. Government to engage in global foresight in collecting information and assessing information, which gives us an opportunity to project our current knowledge as far as possible into the future. When many people hear the term global foresight, they're inclined to think about forecasting the weather, and I suppose that that is one interpretation, but it should mean a great deal more than that. It should mean the ability to anticipate problems and to anticipate change in really every area of public policymaking and, for that matter, private decisionmaking. It attempts to answer the question, "What if?" Dean Rusk once said that the pace of events is moving so fast that unless we can find some way to keep our sights on tomorrow, we can't expect to be in touch with today, and that really states the problem. Foresight is the ability, if not to predict, at least to project, and it can aid policymaking and decisionmaking in many areas. Trade |