230 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



Chairman Miller. Oli, I am soriy, he comes from the great State 

 of Wisconsin. 



On my immediate left is Mr. Drewry, who is the counsel for the 

 Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and he works with 

 our subcommittee. 



I am George Miller, Congressman from California. 



Unfortunately we were somewhat delayed in getting here so our 

 time has to be somewhat curtailed. So I am going to ask you gentle- 

 men who appear before the committee to be as brief as possible; we 

 want to hear all of you. Cumulative evidence is not sometliing we 

 need. We have heard the stories of the Albatross. We want your 

 opinions. We have heard the charges and countercharges that go into 

 it. We did come here, however, to hear you gentlemen and give you a 

 chance to register your opinions. Mr. William Donahue, national 

 rej) resent at ive of the American Federation of Government Employees, 

 is here, and I am going to ask him to assist us. I understand Miss 

 Leonard is going to make the opening statement. 



Mr. Donahue. That is right, Mr. Chairman, our first witness will 

 be Miss Leonard. 



TESTIMONY OF MISS ELIZABETH B. LEONARD, SECRETARY-TKEAS- 

 URER, LOCAL NO. 1729, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERN- 

 MENT EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATED WITH THE A.F.L.-C.I.O. 



Mrs. Leonard, My name is Elizabeth B. Leonard. I am secretary- 

 treasurer of Local No. 1729, American Federation of Government Em- 

 ployees, affiliated with the AFL-CIO. My official position is 

 librarian at the Woods Hole Laboratory. 



At this time, the lodge would say ''thank you" to this subcommit- 

 tee for granting us this opportunity to be heard. 



Mr. Eoss Leffler, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, in a letter dated Febiaiary 18 and addressed to the Sec- 

 retary of this lodge, stated, and I quote : 



In the future we plan to make greater use of the Delaware and of charter 

 vessels to provide for research purposes. AVhile there will be some loss of sea 

 time, essential parts of the biological program will be accomplished. 



The Albatross III is an old ship. Maintenance and operating costs are very 

 high and have reached the point where her continued operation gives too little 

 return per research dollar expended. Thus we believe it best to deactivate and 

 sell her. Our action is based upon the needs for both economy and efficiency. 



In a letter to Senator Magnuson, chairman of the appropriate com- 

 mittee in the Senate, and dated March 5, Mr. Leffler stated, and I 

 quote : 



Starting this year it became evident that the Bureau of Commercial Fisher- 

 ies could not longer finance two offshore research ships in the New England area. 

 After careful consideration a decision was reached to deactivate the Albatross 

 III. She is an old ship, built in 1920, and is costly to operate. In fact, higher 

 than normal maintenance costs for the Albatross III were one of the major con- 

 tributing factors to the continual budget shortage. 



The operating budget of the Albatross III for fiscal 1960, is $182,000 

 for 180 days at sea, giving a per diem cost of $1,000. 



In fiscal 1960, the WockIs Hole Laboi-atory will apparently have 

 to contribute considerably toward (lie operating budget of the Dela- 

 ware. The Delaware is not ei^uipped to do research that the Alba- 

 tross is equipped to do. 



