SEVERAL WITNESSES REVIEW THE BACKGROUND, STRUCTURE, AND DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS PROCEDURES OF THE NCS. THEY STRESS THAT THE VICTIMIZATION SURVEY IS FAR MORE ACCURATE THEN THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS, WHICH ARE COMPOSED OF NUMBERS OF CRIME REPORTED TO POLICE, BECAUSE IT ENABLES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO OBTAIN DATA ON CRIMES NOT REPORTED TO POLICE. IT IS ARGUED THAT SHORT-TERM SUSPENSION OF NCS DATA COLLECTION WOULD HAVE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES ON THE UTILITY AND INTERPRETATION OF NATIONAL VICTIMIZATION INFORMATION AND THAT IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO RECONSTRUCT AND INITIATE A NEW STATISTICS ACTIVITY. THE STATISTICS ARE USED AS SOCIAL INDICATORS AND ARE HELPFUL TO LEGISLATORS AND EXECUTIVES FOR DECISIONMAKING AND TO SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEACHERS. THE ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF LEAA TESTIFIES THAT SUSPENSION OF THE SURVEY IS NEEDED TO SOLVE METHODOLOGICAL WEAKNESSES INDICATED BY A NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY AND BY SEVERAL INDEPENDENT USERS. IT IS STATED THAT SUSPENSION DURING RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION OF METHODOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS WOULD SAVE TAXPAYERS $6 MILLION A YEAR. (DAG)