The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology assessment.
OTA was abolished (technically "de-funded") in the "Contract with America" period of Newt Gingrich's Republican ascendancy in Congress.
When the 104th Congress withdrew funding for OTA, it had a staff of 143 people and an annual budget of $22 million. The move was criticized at the time, including by rep. Amo Houghton (R) who commented that "we are cutting off one of the most important arms of Congress when we cut off unbiased knowledge about science and technology."