selects a Chairman and a Vice Chairman from among its members at the beginning of each Congress. The Chairmanship and Vice Chairmanship alternate between the Senate and the House of Representatives with each Congress. The Director is appointed by the Board and serves a 6year term. The Director has full authority and responsibility for organizing and managing OTA's resources according to policies set by the Board. The Technology Assessment Advisory Council comprises 10 public members eminent in science and technology. The Council is appointed by the Board and advises the Board and OTA on assessments and other matters. The Comptroller General of the United States and the Director of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress are also members.

OTA's assessments explore complex isssues involving science and technology, helping Congress resolve uncertainties and conflicting claims, identifying alternative policy options, and providing foresight or early alert to new developments that could have important implications for future Federal policy. Requests for assessments may be made by the chairman of any congressional

committee acting for himself or on behalf of a ranking minority member, or a majority of committee members; by the OTA Board; or by the OTA Director, in consultation with the Board.

OTA's work centers on comprehensive assessments that may take 1 to 2 years to complete. OTA also draws upon its past and current work to provide a variety of responses to meet immediate congressional needs, such as briefings, testimony, and special reports.

OTA assessment teams work closely with congressional staff and support agencies to ensure that major committee concerns are addressed and to stay in touch with the published work and current activities of analysts and researchers in the Executive branch and throughout the public and private interest sectors. Each project is guided by an advisory panel of experts on a particular subject as a way of ensuring that reports are objective, fair, and authoritative.

After approval for release by the Board, OTA assessment reports are distributed to the requesting committees, with summaries provided to all Members of Congress. OTA reports are available to the public through the Government Printing Office.

Nancy M. Gordon

Robert F. Hale

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 302; 2 U.S.C. 601), which also created a procedure by which the United States Congress considers and acts upon the annual Federal budget. This process enables the Congress to have an overview of the Federal budget and to make overall decisions regarding spending and taxing levels and the deficit or surplus these levels incur. Congress is provided with a mechanism through which it can weigh the priorities for national resource allocation and explicitly address issues of fiscal policy.

The Congressional Budget Office provides Congress with basic budget data and with analyses of alternative fiscal, budgetary, and programmatic policy issues. CBO has specific responsibility for the following functions and activities: Economic Forecasting and Fiscal Policy Analysis The Federal budget both affects and is affected by the national economy. The Congress considers the Federal budget in the context of the current and projected state of the national economy. CBO therefore provides periodic forecasts and analyses of economic trends and alternative fiscal policies. Scorekeeping Under the budget process the Congress establishes, by concurrent resolution, targets (or ceilings) for overall expenditures, budget authority and budget outlays, and for broad functional categories. The Congress also establishes targets (or ceilings) for the levels of revenues, the deficit, and the public debt. CBO "keeps score" for the Congress by monitoring the results of congressional action on individual authorization, appropriation, and revenue

bills against the targets (or ceilings) specified in the concurrent resolution. Cost Projections The Congressional Budget Office prepares 5-year cost estimates for carrying out any public bill or resolution reported by congressional committees. As soon as practicable after the beginning of each fiscal year, CBO also provides 5-year projections on the costs of continuing current Federal spending and taxation policies. Annual Report on the Budget The Congressional Budget Office is responsible for furnishing the House and Senate Budget Committees by February 15 of each year with a report that includes a discussion of alternative spending and revenue levels and alternative allocations among major programs and functional categories, all in the light of major national needs and the effect on the balanced growth and development of the United States. Special Studies The Congressional Budget Office undertakes studies requested by the Congress on budgetrelated areas. As required by the establishing act, such service is provided in the following order of priority to: the House and Senate Budget Committees; the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Committees; all other congressional committees. Sequestration Report This report is mandated by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901), which calls for a balanced Federal budget by 1991. Issued jointly with the Office of Management and Budget, the report estimates whether current spending and taxing levels cause deficits in excess of targets and whether the amount and percentage of budget resources must be sequestered to eliminate such excess.

The Copyright Royalty Tribunal was established by act of October 19, 1976 (90 Stat. 2594; 17 U.S.C. 801).

The Tribunal sets copyright royalty rates for records, jukeboxes, and certain cable television retransmissions under the compulsory licensing provisions of the act. Royalty fees are deposited with the Register of Copyrights and are distributed by the Tribunal. In addition, the Tribunal makes decisions regarding rates and terms of royalty payments for the use of

published, nondramatic compositions and pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works by noncommercial broadcasting stations. Cost-of-living adjustments are made to these noncommercial broadcasting rates in December of each year.

In making its determinations, the Tribunal considers the relative harm and benefits to the copyright owners and users, respectively, the availability of creative works to the public, and the economic impact on the industries involved.