"The Office of Technology Assessment shall consist of a Technology Assessment Board (hereinafter referred to as the 'Board') which shall formulate and promulgate the policies of the Office, (P.L. 92-484 # 3b). This Board, appointed by the leadership of the House and Senate, and consisting of six Senators and six Representatives equally divided by party, has been a unique and vital element of OTA since 1972, the year the Office was established and a Board first appointed. The Board's first meeting on April 10, 1973, preceded the receipt of funding for OTA in November 1973 and the beginning of operations in January 1974. Traditionally, OTA Annual Reports have not contained a separate section exclusively devoted to the Board. OTA's last Annual Report, however, would not be complete without recognition of this group of men and women who formed the continuing, integral core of the Office. Certain congressional agencies may fall under the jurisdiction of one or another Committee or Joint Committee of Congress; but no agency except OTA has enjoyed the kind of equally bipartisan, close supervision, oversight, guidance and support given by the Board. The management and staff of OTA came to place great value and trust in the work of the Board and pride in the dedication of the Board and willingness of its members to attend meetings and spend time on the affairs of the Office. This was not a figurehead or rubber stamp group, nor were they as they proved in the last year, fair-weather friends.