OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1959 



House of Representatives, 

 Special Subcommittee on Oceanography, 

 OF THE Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 



Washington, D.O. 



The subcommittee met, at 10 a. m., pursuant to notice, in room 219, 

 Old House Office Building, Hon. George P, Miller (chairman of the 

 subcommittee) presiding. 



Present: Representatives Bonner (chairman). Miller, Dingell, 

 Lennon, Oliver, Flynn, Dorn, Pelly, and Curtin. 



Staff members present: William B. Winfield, clerk; John M. 

 Drewry, chief counsel. 



Mr. MtlIxER. a quorum being present, the committee will come to 

 order. 



This is the first meeting of the Special Subcommittee on Oceanog- 

 raphy of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, ap'X)inted 

 February 17, and directed by Chairman Herbert C. Bonner to hold 

 such hearings and take other actions as may be appropriate in order 

 to fully develop the extent to which the U.S. should go to carry out a 

 broad and effective national program of oceanographic studies. 



The Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee is vested by the 

 House of Representatives with jurisdiction over matters pertaining to 

 the merchant marine, fisheries, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and 

 the Coast Guard. Thus, we have had frequent occasion to consider 

 separate aspects of the broad field of oceanography from time to time. 

 In the past year or so, however, as a result of the successes of the In- 

 ternational Geophysical Year, the importance of coordinated study of 

 problems of this nature has been demonstrated. Moreover, new con- 

 cepts of transportation, military preparedness, and exploitation of 

 food resources have shown that detailed knowledge and understanding 

 of the oceans and their contents are assuming even greater importance. 

 Yet, we have come to realize that despite the importance of the oceans 

 our knowledge of them is small when compared with the needs. 



Therefore, the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, with 

 its keen obligations with regard to matters concerning the oceans and 

 that which is beneath the surface, has initiated this study and inves- 

 tigation under the immediate inspiration of the provocative report re- 

 cently released by an ad hoc Committee on Oceanography of the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences, established by the National Research 

 Council in 1957. This committee of 11 distinguished scientists under 

 the chairmanship of Dr. Harrison Brown, professor of geochemistry 

 at California Institute of Technology, in the initial portion of its re- 

 port recently released outlined the scope of research and survey work 



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