10 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



I know, Mr. Chairman, that you are well acquainted with this first 

 session, having attended yourself with several members of your staff. 

 As you know, of the five members of the U.S. delegation, of which I 

 was the Chairman, three were members of the ICO, the other two 

 being Dr. Revelle of the Department of the Interior and Rear Admiral 

 Stephan, the Oceanographer of the Navy. Our reason for establish- 

 ing this new International Programs Panel is evident in the report of 

 the delegation, copies of which have been made available to your 

 committee. 



Specifically, we hope through our panel to develop the plans and the 

 requirements of the United States in fulfilling our obligations as agreed 

 to in the resolutions adopted by the Commission. Further, we hope 

 through this new panel to work closely with the Department of State 

 in order that we consider programs and policies which might be fruit- 

 ful in the pursuit of national policy and objectives at the international 

 level. 



As you will note, Mr. Chairman, when you hear from the Panel 

 representatives, there have been many areas, other than through the 

 development of a written annual program, wherein the ICO has 

 endeavored to enhance the national effort. These have arisen more 

 or less as a byproduct of our existence, generated by ourselves and 

 by individual agencies exhibiting a willingness to work in this "na- 

 tional" environment. I think it is significant that the "accommoda- 

 tion" approach to cooperation has given way to specific provisions 

 for cooperation by all agencies in their programs. 



Before concluding, Mr. Chairman, perhaps one or two examples 

 of our activities aside from program and budget planning would be 

 of interest. During the special review of the program which the 

 ICO submitted to the Federal Council, it appeared that special 

 attention was warranted in the area of environmental study of 

 radiological and other pollutants. In order to give this area proper 

 emphasis, the Research Panel set aside this unique problem area as 

 a separate objective in our overall research program in order that it 

 receive independent review. The ICO then asked that the AEC, 

 in cooperation with the Public Health Service and the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, examine the content of the program to deter- 

 mine its adequacy. This was done and the results have been incor- 

 porated into the research plan through the Research Panel. 



In another objective area of research, that of marine biology, I 

 have asked the Chairman of the Research Panel, Dr. Maxwell, to 

 set aside another small working group similarly to examine the current 

 program in biological oceanography. The interest of the National 

 Institutes of Health in this field, as well as their requirements for the 

 products of research currently being undertaken, will be explored. 



In our endeavors to investigate other fruitful areas for coordination, 

 the working group has been requested to hold discussions of our pro- 

 grams and our requirements with National Aeronautics and Space 

 Administration to determine the extent to which we might serve their 

 program and to seek their advice on communications problems relative 

 to data retrieval from fixed stations and cooperation, if possible, with 

 their range vessels. 



With reference to industrial participation, you will hear of our 

 specific activities from Mr. Donald McKernan, Chairman of our 

 Facilities and Instrumentation Panel. It is true that we are still 



