Fusion Energy-Staff, 1987-1992

Congressman Fawell served on the Science Committee for the entirety of his years as a member of Congress. (The committee was officially titled Committee on Science and Technology in the 99th Congress, 1985-1986; Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in the 100th-103rd Congresses, 1987-1994; and the Committee on Science in the 104th-105th Congresses, 1995-1998, but for ease of use was referred to as the Science Committee.) Within the Science Committee, Congressman Fawell served on the subcommittee that dealt with energy issues, alternately called the Subcommittee on Energy Development and Applications (1985-1986), the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment (1987-1988), the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Development (1989-1990), the Subcommittee on Energy and Power (1991-1992), the Subcommittee on Energy (1993-1994), and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment (1995-1998). Congressman Fawell's interest in science legislation related to the presence of Argonne National Laboratory in the 13th Congressional District. Major topics represented in the Science Committee Files include: Argonne National Laboratory and its Electrometallurgical Treatment Program and Integral Fast Reactor; Department of Energy and its budget and possible reorganization; Environmental Protection Agency; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; global climate change; space station development; and Superconducting Super Collider. The files contain memoranda and notes; newspaper and journal articles; publicity information from labs and agencies; bills and committee reports; "Dear Colleague" letters sent to and received from other members of Congress; and correspondence with the scientific community including scientists and government officials. The files on hearings, a significant segment of the Science Committee Files, include copies of testimony presented and hearing charters distributed by the Science Committee, explaining the purpose and scope of the hearing and providing background information. At Science Committee hearings, experts testified to help the members to make informed decisions regarding the bills under consideration. The final step of the Science Committee's consideration of a bill was markup at which point they added, changed, or attached amendments to the bill and then presented it to Congress. In addition to hearings on legislation, the Science Committee also held hearings on topics of interest to the entire committee (such as "Women in Science and Technology"). Exact titles of the Science Committee hearings were not always used as folder titles if further clarification was necessary for comprehension by the researcher. For example: a hearing held by the Science Committee on the topic of the United Nations' Global Climate Change Agreement and its implementation in the U. S. was titled "Road from Kyoto." The folder title for this hearing was changed to "Global Climate Change Agreement-'Road from Kyoto Part 1'-Hearing-Staff, 1998." Files containing materials on the Science Committee hearings examining the practice of academic earmarks (awarding research money non-competitively to institutions of higher education) are in Record Group 4: Legislative Files: Issues Files-Porkbuster Files, 1974-1998 (bulk 1990-1995). These files were maintained there rather than in the Science Committee Files because this was an issue raised repeatedly by the Porkbusters and because Representative George Brown (D-CA), Chairman of the Science Committee was a member of the Porkbusters Coalition. Congressman Fawell's files on this subject were found in Record Group 4: Legislative Files: Issues Files-Porkbuster Files, 1974-1998 (bulk 1990-1995), and the staff files were found in the Science Committee Files. The staff files were moved and combined into Record Group 4: Legislative Files: Issues Files-Porkbuster Files, 1974-1998 (bulk 1990-1995). In order to become better informed about science issues, Congressman Fawell set up a Science Advisory Committee consisting of 13th District and other Chicago area representatives, including scientists and energy and science corporation representatives, with whom he would meet on an irregular basis. The records for the Science Advisory Committee can be found in Record Group 3: Constituent Service Files: Advisory Committee Files, 1985-1998. Some of the files about the environment originally found in the Science Committee Files were moved to Record Group 4: Legislative Files: Issues Files, 1985-1998, where the larger bulk of files about the environment were found. The files about the environment remaining in the Science Committee Files are only those that directly pertain to hearings and legislation in which the Science Committee was involved. The Science Committee Files were received as two separate series: Congressman Fawell's files and staff files. An alphabetical arrangement scheme was imposed on the records, and the two series were merged. The provenance of the collection was maintained through the folder title entry "-HWF" or "-Staff" to indicate whether the individual file was used or annotated by Congressman Fawell or one (or many) of his staff members. Many of the hearings files were received in binders and during processing were removed from the binders and placed in folders.