Reps. Sean Casten and Mark Takano appealed to their colleagues Tuesday to fund and restore a Capitol Hill technology agency that was defunded more than 20 years ago, as advocates say it could help Congress’s capacity to understand emerging technology and its social and policy implications.

The Office of Technology Assessment, often referred to as OTA, provided Congress with objective analysis of complex technology issues from 1972 to 1995. The agency’s mission was to ensure the lawmakers had information they needed on new or expanding technologies and objective information assessing impacts, policy proposals and scientific expertise “to match that of the executive branch.”

Casten, a freshman Democrat from Illinois, told the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday that he relied on the OTA resources when he worked in the private sector and came into Congress with the aim to bring it back.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the only freshman member who made a campaign pledge to restore the OTA,” he told the panel to laughs.

Casten says the OTA could serve a unique role, even as the Congressional Research Service continues to produce reports and the Government Accountability Office ramps up their new Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) team.