May 24, 1966

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Mr. Robert Merriam
Legislative Assistant to Senator Kuchel
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Merriam:

“Costing Human Life" is a first pass as a note on one of the issues we
discussed. I have been talking with the Washington Post and Newsweek
about the possibility of doing a regular column and this might be thought
of as a pilot piece. Most likely nothing will come of this, but it may
explain the format.

A couple of years ago I thought we would have the leisure for a lengthy
academic discussion of "euphenics" before bringing it to public and
legislative notice. Now I find, as expected, that my own bizarre 'pro-
phecies’ are still too conservative, and it looks to me now as if Medicare
plus the plastic heart are about to blow the lid off. The moral issues
are still better left to private conscience, but there is plenty that needs
doing now in public policy.

So I am now prepared to recommend some more concrete action. It seems to
me that investigation and planning is more a legislative than executive
responsibility. I propose the start of extensive hearings on "Future
Technology and Human Life - model of the next five decades," in which
medical technology should play a preeminant role. As a prelude to the
wider hearings, Congress could establish an advisory legislative commis-
sion.

I realize this brings up the question how Congress can receive the kind

of academic advice now available to the Executive. I do not think the
National Academy of Science is the answer: advisers must sometimes be
confidants, and therefore chosen by the congressmen and responsible to
them. So this is a tricky business. I would not like to see a Republi-
can v6 @ Democratic roster of scientists, but this is just Senator Kuchel's
Mr. Robert Merriam
Page two
May 24, 1966

special strength (I am pretty consisaantly Democratic, but I don't see any-
body in sight whom I support ahead of Kuchel) ~ that he could get any one

in academic life he wanted into his confidence and solidly behind him ~ even
people who don't agree with every position he takes. But these organiza~
tional details can be worked out on the strength of a decision to mount a
major effort in public and legislative education.

It is of utmost importance to keep to the broadest system outlook. The
recent Presidential Commission on automation degenerated into a labor-
management brawl.

Is this too vast for a start? Even if we concentrated on medical technology,
we would not be much narrower: this is going to be the major industry and
we are not going to be able to disentangle medical progress from the con-
sumer demand for sophisticated hardware, from the age composition and its
implications for labor force, military manpower, urban planning, educational

yeauleomenet Ghd ot? the rest!

There is a certain amount of thia kind of thinking now, of course. But it
doesn't have enough coumunieation between disciplines, and it doesn't focus
anywhere. Congress could tmpel that.

Sincerely yours,

Joshua Lederberg

Professor of Genetics
JLibm