Science and Technology Advice for Congress: Past, Present, and Future

With visions of Hurricane Katrina dancing in their heads, many Members of Congress wanted to immediately push some kind of legislation that would save American lives in future disasters, but how? Disaster response is a complex matter. Katrina, like any problem that dominates the American news, produces a deluge of proposed “quick fixes” to be evaluated by Congress. When proposals involve science or technology, this can be difficult.