EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 81 



being furnished for coordination purposes by the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries for the whole operation? 



Mr. McKernan. Oh, no, Mr. Chairman. We are sharing that. 

 We have an excellent group and these men are competent profes- 

 sionals, and what we do is assign tasks to some others. For example, 

 at our next-to-the-last meeting, we assigned Mr. Goodheart of Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey the job of bringing together all information on 

 buoy systems. This will provide us with more precise information on 

 this subject. So we tend to share these tasks. And I think what you 

 are getting at, these people, some of them, anyway, have other tasks 

 as well. 



Mr. Dingell. I am very much concerned how you can have a man 

 doing a full-time job in the Bureau, and have him do another full-time 

 job in coordinating the use of facilities, and so forth, in the Federal 

 Government. 



Mr. McKernan. In other words, I like what I am doing, and I 

 enjoy the work with the ICO. It is one of the real satisfactions I get 

 out of my work here. I enjoy associating with these very dedicated 

 and very hard working people and I get a sense of accomplishment, 

 Mr. Chairman, because I believe that the ICO has been successful, 

 although not perfect, by any means. 



Mr. Dingell. Mr. McKernan, we appreciate your kindness in 

 being here. Thank you very much. 



The next witness is Comdr. R. J. Alexander, chairman of Ocean- 

 ographic Ships Panel. 



Commander, you are certainly welcome, and we appreciate your 

 courtesy and kindness in coming. 



STATEMENT OF COMDR. ROBERT J. ALEXANDER, U.S. NAVY, 

 CHAIRMAN, SHIPS PANEL, INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON 

 OCEANOGRAPHY 



Commander Alexander. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, before 

 proceeding with my testimony I would first like to express my ap- 

 preciation for this opportunity to appear before your committee to 

 discuss the organization, operations, and accomplishments of the 

 Ships Panel of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography. It is 

 not usual for one in my circumstances to testify before a congressional 

 committee and I consider it a very great honor and a privilege to be 

 here. 



I have a written statement which, with your permission, I would 

 like to submit for the record. 



Mr. Dingell. Thank you, Commander. We appreciate that. 



Commander Alexander. On June 14, 1960, the chairman of the 

 Interagency Committee on Oceanography, the Honorable James H. 

 Wakelin, Jr., requested me to establish a panel to review critically for 

 the ICO the oceanographic research and survey ship requirements of 

 the various Federal agencies. The panel, when formed, was im- 

 mediately to undertake the following tasks: 



(a) Review individual agency ship construction and conversion 

 programs to determine what ships would be required through fiscal 

 year 1963. This has since been expanded to include ship requirements 

 through fiscal year 1971. 



