The meeting room in the Longwood House Office Building in Washington, DC was filled with government policy-makers. Everyone was silent—listening attentively to four world-renowned experts on stress management and health. Dr. John Hagelin, the conference moderator, described the role of effective stress prevention in promoting health and dramatically reducing health care costs.

The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy inspired, and helped to organize, this bipartisan "Congressional Prevention Coalition," founded to provide Congress with the latest information about proven, prevention-oriented solutions to America's problems.

"This was the first-ever high-level presentation of our research to Congress," says Dr. Hagelin. We expect this meeting will have a major effect on our government's policies on the Transcendental Meditation technique and its role in Medicare, Medicaid and other public and private sector health programs. Future Congressional forums are now being planned on genetic engineering, effective crime prevention, and cost-effective budgeting."

Since its founding in 1992, the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy has played a leading role in bringing to government the most up-to-date scientific knowledge and scientifically validated solutions to the problems facing our nation and the world.

"Solutions to our critical problems exist right now," Dr. Hagelin says, "programs that could save billions of dollars, promote health and prosperity, and alleviate human suffering."

Other breakthroughs by the Institute include:

TM Program for Veterans:
After three 300-page proposals and years of persistence, the Institute won approval for reimbursement from the Veterans Administration for instruction in the TM technique for participants in the VA health system.

Food Safety:
Under strong pressure from the Institute, Mothers for Natural Law and allied organizations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture abandoned proposed legislation that would have allowed genetically engineered, sewage-grown, and irradiated foods to be labeled as "organic."

Protecting the Integrity of the Human Genome:
Recent hearings by the National Institutes of Health considered whether the NIH should fund research involving genetic engineering of human fetuses. Such research carries a high risk that the genetic alterations will be perpetuated to future generations, with presently unknown and potentially dangerous consequences.

In addition to the obvious health risks posed by such irreversible gene pollution, Maharishi has emphasized that the natural state of human consciousness is cosmic—the total potential of Natural Law. This is because the structure of the human DNA mirrors the structure of Ved—the blueprint of total Natural Law. We have no idea whether incomplete, or mutated, DNA can support cosmic awareness—the state of pure consciousness.

Dr. Hagelin and Dr. John Fagan offered powerful testimony recommending a ten-year moratorium on in utero gene transfer therapy, to allow a comprehensive evaluation of its safety for the fetus and its long-term side effects on the human germ line. "The response to our testimony was electric!" Dr. Hagelin said. "Largely on the basis of our remarks, the NIH decided to disallow this research."

Maharishi Rejuvenation Program:
Preliminary research results by Dr. Robert Herron, the Institute's Director of Health Policy Research, show that the Maharishi Rejuvenation program significantly reduces pesticides and other fat-soluble toxins in the body. "These toxins," Dr. Herron says, "are linked to serious diseases, including cancer, and have previously been considered nearly impossible to remove."

Inner City Education, Prison Rehabilitation:
The Institute continues to promote TM demonstration projects in inner city schools and in prisons, and expects state and federal funding for these prevention-oriented, consciousness-based projects to begin in 1999.

"By applying the most advanced, scientific programs that effectively harness Natural Law," concludes Dr. Hagelin, "America can rise above problems, and every government can govern with the same natural efficiency and effectiveness with which nature governs the universe—with absolute order and without a problem."

Dr. Sally Peden works for the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy at Maharishi University of Management.