OCEANOGRAPHY 



PURPOSE OF THE BILL 



This bill is designed to remove present uncertainty as to the extent of possible 

 offshore activities by the Coast and Geodetic Survey by adding a new section 

 11 to the act of August 6, 1947 (ch. 504, 61 Stat. 787; 33 U.S.C. 883a-883i) to 

 provide that the Secretary of Commerce may conduct activities authorized by 

 the act without regard to the geographical limitations set forth therein, in con- 

 nection with projects designated as essential to the national interest by the 

 head of an executive department or agency. 



NEED FOK THE LEGISLATION 



The intensive development of research programs in many fields of scientific 

 endeavor in connection with military activities, particularly with regard to 

 the exploration of outer space; and the pressing need for expanded knowledge 

 of the oceans' depths for submarine operation and defense as well as for possible 

 new sources of food and mineral resources, have laid greatly increased demands 

 upon the Coast and Geodetic Survey which are certain to multiply as the years 

 go by. 



In scientific fields that have taken on new and vital significance, such as ocea- 

 nography, geodesy, seismology, magnetism and the like, the scientific comi:)etence 

 and experience of the Survey personnel must be utilized to the fullest in the 

 interest of survival. That this may be made possible is the primary purix>se 

 of this bill. 



Under the act of August 6, 1947, basic authority is provided for activities of 

 the Survey which cover a wide field — hydrographic and topographic surveys 

 of coastal water and land areas, tide and current observations, surveys for 

 aeronautical charts, geophysical measurements, geomagnetic data, etc., etc. 

 However, it is prescribed by statute that these activities be conducted 



"in the United States, its territories, and possessions" while surveys may also 

 be made "of offlying islands, banks, shoals, and other offshore islands." 



That such limited statutory authority for operation of this most important 

 research organization is dangerously inadequate becomes self-evident when the 

 tremendously expanded operations of Russia and other nations in the various 

 research areas are considered. 



As a nation we have been remiss in seeking out data concerning outer space 

 and the underwater areas that now loom so large in military thinking, as well 

 as concerning the frozen wastes of the north where Russia has been actively 

 exploring for years. Fortunately, however, our scientists have been awake to 

 the needs for vastly accelerated research activities, and have on their own 

 initiative assembled a great deal of information as to what must be done to try 

 to close the gap between our knowledge of nature's forces and resources and 

 the far more thorough understanding of such matters by competing nations. 



The Committee on Oceanography, composed of eminent scientists from ocean- 

 ographic institutions and universities, is greatly concerned over our Nation's 

 deficiency in studies of the oceans. Likewise, launching of Sputnik I by the 

 Russians was a shocking reminder to us that we had not pursued our own space 

 program with necessary vigor and appreciation of the need for such vigor. 



Our national funds expended in research on outer space and underwater 

 exploration have almost infinitesimal compared to what these scientists and 

 some in Government know that they should have been. Crying "Russia, Russia" 

 must become tiresome to our people at times, but it is certainly no secret now 

 that Russia has far exceeded any efforts of this country to explore and chart 

 the waters of the North Pacific, for instance, as well as the entire Arctic area. 



Our security in the years ahead may depend to large extent upon our ability 

 to defend against long-range-missile submarines lying off our shores, but we 

 have little knowledge of the Continental Shelf and adjacent depths on which to 

 base such defense. Attack may come over the frozen north, but here again our 

 data are negligible. 



The recent recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences and the 

 National Research Council that the Coast and Geodetic Survey be responsible 

 for half of the deep-ocean surveys in connection with their proix)sed oceano- 

 graphic program has pointed up the doubt as to whether present statutes would 

 authorize such participation by the Survey in the program. liecause of this 

 uncertainty the Survey in the past has had to depend upon other sources for 

 much of the data, measurements, etc., made outside the United States, its 

 territories, and possessions. 



