This background paper discusses the technological options available for use in an electronic system to deliver public assistance benefits, the privacy and security implications of such a system, and the programmatic effects of changing to an electronic delivery system. It was requested by the Subcommittee on the Handicapped of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

Scientific and technical journals in biology and medicine have extensively covered a debate about whether and how to determine the function and order of human genes on human chromosomes and when to determine the sequence of molecular building blocks that comprise DNA in those chromosomes. This report surveys the points made so far in the debate that involves science, technology, and politics, focusing on those that most directly influence the policy options facing the U.S. Congress.

The staff paper is part of a larger, ongoing OTA assessment of the ozone nonattainment issue, requested by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.