Presidential Statement Upon Signing Order Establishing Federal Council for Science and Technology

LESS THAN twenty years ago, Federal support of science was about I Go million dollars annually. Today, this annual investment in research and development has grown to over five billion dollars, and a large fraction of these Federal funds is spent in laboratories owned and operated by private groups. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to encourage in every appropriate way the scientific activities of non-Government institutions; but it is apparent from the size of these Federal expenditures that the policies and practices of the Federal Government can exert an immediate and substantial effect on the Nation's private scientific institutions as well as on Government laboratories.

I believe that the new Federal Council for Science and Technology can effectively aid the objective of improving the ways in which the Federal Government uses and supports science. Moreover, the report of my Science Advisory Committee on "Strengthening American Science" also pointed to a number of opportunities for advancing our total national program. I expect the new Council to consider and evaluate these opportunities and to encourage all Government agencies further to increase the quality of their efforts in these fields. By fostering greater cooperation among Federal agencies in planning their research and development programs, by facilitating the resolution of common problems, and by reviewing the impact of Government policies on the programs of non-Governmental institutions, the Council should be able to contribute greatly to the development and advancement of our national programs in these important and critical areas.

NOTE.: Executive Order 10807, establishing the Federal Council for Science and Technology, is published in the Federal Register (24 F.R. 1897).

The Science Advisory Committee report "Strengthening American Science" (Government Printing Office, 1958) was made public by the President on December 28, 1958, and is summarized in a note in the 1958 volume, this series, p. 869.