THE OVERTON BROOKS YEARS, 1959-61 



45 



next approach was to set up a Special Subcommittee on Earth Sciences, 

 of which he made himself chairman, and in August issued a special 

 invitation to Miller to sit with the committee. 



Rather than acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Science Com- 

 mittee, Miller did not sit as a member of the committee, but appeared 

 instead as a witness at the Brooks hearing on August 25, 1959. There 

 he sparred gently with Brooks, pointing out the work in oceanography 

 which was already underway in the Merchant Marine Subcommittee 

 which he chaired. In turn, Brooks asked for Miller's printed hearings 

 and very courteously stated: 



We want to study those so there will be as little overlapping as possible***. 

 There is no need for duplication, because we will develop the whole program of Earth 

 sciences in this particular committee. 



On September 1, Brooks tried to persuade Miller with a letter 

 which stated: 



It is late in the session to discuss the subject of jurisdiction but I want to assure 

 you that your Committee on Science and Astronautics is going to proceed with the 

 bills before it and I am satisfied no conflict will arise between the Committee on 

 Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the Science and Astronautics Committee. Our 

 viewpoint is scientific, while the Merchant Marine and Fisheries is that of operating 

 the merchant marine and supporting the fish and wildlife of the ocean. 



Miller was not mollified. The following year Brooks again 

 scheduled hearings on his bill, this time before the full committee on 

 April 28 and 29. When the Merchant Marine Committee got wind of 

 the hearings, its staff made a vigorous protest to Ducander and 

 indicated that Miller would be upset also at the news. On April 18, 

 Ducander in a memo alerted Brooks that a big storm was brewing, 

 and that he had dispatched Dr. Sheldon to brief Miller, just returned 

 from Geneva : 



Accordingly, Dr. Sheldon went to Miller's office the following morning and 

 explained that we were merely setting up a two-day briefing on oceanography, after 

 which Miller became quite angry and said we had no authority to do this. He further 

 told Sheldon that if we persisted in going into the field of oceanography, considering 

 the fact that the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee had a Special Sub- 

 committee on Oceanography of which he was chairman, he intended to take the 

 matter up with the Speaker and the House leadership. He further stated to Sheldon 

 that if the hearings went on as scheduled, he would be present at the hearings, and 

 publicly protest this committee's unwarranted usurpation of the Merchant Marine 

 and Fisheries Committee's jurisdiction. 



The hearings went ahead, as scheduled, and Miller was an active 

 participant. The hearings were published under the title of "Frontiers 

 of Oceanic Research." But Brooks did not venture again into the deep 

 and turbulent waters of oceanography. The Subcommittee on Earth 

 Sciences became moribund and held no more hearings during Brooks 



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