OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 25 



C. ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 



In light of the prior discussions, the relationship of the sea to 

 national security becomes more evident, and in this context, a number 

 of Congressional leaders have stressed the role of the Federal Govern- 

 ment in fostering research in the sea. 



This point of view was succinctly developed by Senator Warren G. 

 Alagnuson in an address before the Franklin Institute, February 17, 

 1960, sections of which follow: ^^ 



Modern naval warfare, so much of it conducted beneath the surface of the 

 oceans, requires broad knowledge of bottom topography, sound velocities, sub- 

 surface temperatures and currents, biological activity, nuclear components, 

 ambient noLse and ocean sediments. 



Even now the Navy admits a significant lack of this knowledge in the North 

 Pacific, the Northeast Atlantic, the Pacific Ocean, and many other areas. 



The chemistry of the oceans must be known at varying depths and samples 

 taken for nitrates, oxygen, salinities, and phosphates. We should learn much 

 more than we know now about the magnetism and gravities in the ocean, about 

 wave motion, and about the mineral treasures of the sea. 



Congress, recognizing the increasing role of science in national defense, in 1946 

 created an Office of Naval Research. ONR was given authority to conduct 

 research and development work both in Government facilities and through con- 

 tracts with individuals and educational and scientific institutions. The latter 

 grant was based on the premise referred to earlier in my remarks that basic 

 research, as distinguished from applied, could best be done in an academic 

 environment. 



OXR also was directed by Congress to promote and encourage initiation, plan- 

 ning, and coordination of naval research, and given authority to make ships 

 available to oceanographic institutions, or to assist in financing operations of the 

 research ships these institutions already had, and would make use of in contract 

 programs. 



These research contracts were and are from year to year and dependent on 

 allocations from the annual naval budget. Demands for naval hardware and fleet 

 operations are such that ONR almost invariably finds itself pushed to the foot of 

 the lineup at the budget table. 



Science suffers, all marine sciences suffer, under this procedure. A compre- 

 hensive, long-range program of oceanographic research and surveys, approved 

 by Congress and directed by statute, is necessary to correct it. 



* * * So I shall talk about the role of the Federal Government in this field — 

 what it is doing in marine research, what many of us in the U.S. Senate think 

 it should be doing, why we think the way we do, and what we are proposing 

 Congress do to assure expansion of the marine sciences. 



First, let us consider what business the Government may have in the field of 

 scientific research, particularly basic scientific research. All of us agree that 

 maximum scientific achievement requires great scientific freedom and a minimum 

 of Government direction and control. 



I recall that the question of Government involvement in basic research was 

 raised when, in 1937, I introduced the bill to establish a National Cancer Institute, 

 the first legislation of this kind to be enacted by the Federal Government. Today 

 we liave seven National Institutes of Health, all doing splendid work in medical 

 research. The question of Government participation in research designed to 

 alleviate the afflictions that beset mankind appears to have been resolved. 



The question again was raised when, in 1945, I introduced the first bfil to create 

 a National Science Foundation. This bill authorized and directed the Founda- 

 tion to encourage and support basic research and education in the sciences. The 

 Government had never entered the field of basic research before. Dr. Vannevar 

 Bush worked with me on this legislation and assisted in its drafting. It required 

 5 years to convince Congress and the administration that we needed a National 

 Science Foundation, but we finally succeeded. Today, although the agency 

 certainly has proved its value and is being continually expanded, there are some 

 people who question the Government's support of basic research. 



'» Congressional Record, March 23, 1960, pp. 5883-5885. 



