OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 63 



On the assumption that we come under the heading of "Other Agen- 

 cies," I can assure this committee that we are prepared to take responsi- 

 bility for such parts of the program that might well belong to us 

 under our present statutory responsibilities or in such other areas that 

 the Congress might decide properly fall within our jurisdiction. 



The only specific reference to the Coast Guard in the report is in 

 paragraph 9 under "New ships for research, development, and survey- 

 ing," where it states that — 



Research ships operated by private institutions like those operated by the 

 Navy, Coast Guard, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey should be exempt from 

 those existing legal requirements for living accommodations, safety, and the 

 licensing of crews, which are practical and sensible only on large merchant ships. 



Aside from the inclusion of the Coast Guard at this point, only as 



an example, I might suggest that as the work of this committee 

 progresses, you may, as members of the Merchant Marine and Fish- 

 eries Committee, care to consider this recommendation very seriously 

 with the idea of modifying certain sections of title 46, United States 

 Code, to implement this recommendation. Without prejudging the 

 question unless some such exemption is incorporated in law, the 

 chances are that vessels operated by private institutions could well 

 be in difficulty with the statutory requirements as implemented by the 

 Coast Guard. 



In closing, I would like to say that the Coast Guard stands ready 

 under statutory authority authorizing cooperation with other agen- 

 cies to do anything practicable to further any research program 

 adopted either on the basis of the Academy of Sciences Committee 

 report, or on the work of this subconmiittee. Such cooperation could, 

 as indicated, be extended by carrying out assigned tasks in our own 

 behalf or as in the case of the ocean stations providing a medium of 

 transportation and a platform for scientific personnel to perform their 

 observations, as we currently do for Weather Bureau personnel on 

 the stations just mentioned. 



Thank you veiy much, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to pre- 

 sent these statements. 



Mr. Miller. Thank you very much. Admiral. I want to thank 

 you for a very fine report on this subject. I know that the Coast 

 Guard is ready. 



May I say that many of us found this report of the Academy of 

 Sciences a very challenging thing. 



Now, we realize that presently there are certain statutory limita- 

 tions as to what the Coast Guard, what the Maritime Administration, 

 what all of those agencies that come under the jurisdiction of this 

 committee can do with respect to this work. On the other hand, our 

 objective in calling representatives of all of the agencies before us is 

 to find out what your work is, what you have done, what the poten- 

 tionals of the organization are, and then I believe it is going to be 

 put to us to determine whether or not we should recommend legisla- 

 tion that would implement the carrying out of some of the objectives 

 or perhaps other objectives that may develop during the course of the 

 hearings. I think it speaks well that you, in your remarks, very 

 definitely point up where the Coast Guard, although unofficially, has 

 met a challenge because this challenge was something new since the 

 law creating this old and honorable agency was written into the stat- 

 ute books and last amended. 



