The Office of Technology Assessment was a group of technology and science experts chosen to educate government officials about developing technologies and the most recent findings in the realm of science. It existed from 1972 to 1995. Not only did it inform Congress of new developments in science and technology, it also created frameworks for the implementation of new technologies and scientific experimentation. The office published around 750 studies before it was killed by defunding.
The OTA was destroyed because some politicians wanted scientists who make decisive declarations. "We constantly found scientists who thought what they were saying was not correct," Gingrich said of it in 2001. What he didn't understand is much of science and technology exists in uncertainty.