36 OCEANOGRAPHY 



Ml". Wakelin. Not greatly. 



Mr. Oliver, I think that is all I have, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. MiLLEK. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. We certainly 

 appreciate your taking time out from your vei-y busy schedule to 

 come over here and discuss this with us. 



We appreciate the veiy fine mamier in which you have answered 

 the questions. 



May we put this in the re<iord ? 



Mr. W^AKELiK. Yes. Why do we not submit it to you. either way. 



Mr. IVIiLLER. You may submit it to us for the record, then, without 

 objection. 



(The following was furnished for insertion:) 



The Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 



Research and Development, 



Washington, May 11, 1960. 

 Hon. George P. Miller, 



Chairman, Subcommittee on Oceanography, Committee on Merchant Marine and 

 Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



My Dear Mr. Miller : Again may I express my appreciation for being able to 

 appear this morning before your Subcommittee on Oceanography of the House 

 Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. For the record, however, I 

 VFOuld like to clear up two points contained in my answers to questions put to 

 me by your committee. As they stand now these two items do not give the 

 proper picture and I would like, by this letter, to set the record straight. 



Firstly, in discussing the proposed data center and the participation therein 

 by the Navy, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 the National Science Foundation, and the atomic Energy Conmiission, the desig- 

 nation of their roles was termed "advisory." As envisioned by the Interagency 

 Committee on Oceanography and the National Academy of Sciences Committee 

 on Oceanography and concurred in by each of the agencies involved, the func- 

 tions of this panel through these participating agencies would be jointly to 

 finance, administer, and determine the operational policies of the center. These 

 financial, administrative, and policymaking functions have been planned to 

 insure the availability of the data for nonmilitary as well as military needs. 

 The involvement of the panel is thus considerably more than might be con- 

 strued from the use of the term "advisory," and I beiieve the clarification of this 

 point will, in itself, answer numerous questions your committee might raise as 

 to the advisability of physically locating this center at the Navy Hydrographic 

 Office. 



Secondly, to avoid possible confusion, the record should be clear as to the 

 functions of the proposed oceanographic data center. The center would provide 

 central storage, processing, and related services for only those data for which 

 facilities do not already exist. These data consist of observations of the chem- 

 istry, physics, and biology of the ocean.s. Geophysical data such as gravity, 

 seismic activity, and geomagnetism for which responsibility is already provided 

 by law would not be included, nor would such related data as the marine meteoro- 

 logical information now available at the National Weather Records Center at 

 Asheville, N.C.. be included. Similarly, the detailed biological flies of the U.S. 

 National Museum would not be incorporated. However, certain biological 

 measurements used together with otlier (»ceanographic data in productivity 

 .studies and which are adaptable to machine processing will be included. Other 

 oceanographic data will be included when the need arises. The National Oceano- 

 graphic Data Center would not duplicate any existing center but would keep 

 apprised of such data collection of use to oceanographers and could i"elay 

 requests for such information to the proper repository. 



Attached hereto is an outline of the membership and the tasks proposed by 

 the Interagency Committee for the Oceanographic Data Center Panel. Please 

 note that in section 2f the panel is to recommend to the Interagency Committee 

 legislation, if needed, to make the data center a valuable asset to the oceano- 

 graphic community. 



The Navy welcomes this opportunity, through the U.S. Navy Hydrographic 

 Ofl^ce's facilities, to participate in the national program for oceanography. 

 Sincerely yours, 



James H. Wakelin, Jr. 



