EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 127 



recognition of the existence of this? Does he assign functions to 

 somebody from the Bureau of Mines or the Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries to go to meetings? 



Mr. Abel. No, sir. 



Mr. Drewry. Or does he just accept the fact that someone like 

 Mr. McKernan, or someone else, is going to be away for an hour or 

 two, once every month or so; that he is gone to a meeting downtown, 

 or over at the Navy Department, and that is perfectly acceptable, 

 because it seems to be for a good purpose? It is no more formal than 

 that? 



Mr. Abel. Yes, sir; that is correct. 



Mr. Drewry. All right. Then we come back to another thing. 

 You axe appearing as secretary of the ICO, but except for your 

 discussion of the Coordinating Committee, your statement seems to 

 be concerned with the activities of the working group of the Inter- 

 agency Committee on Oceanography. Is that correct? 



Mr. Abel. Yes, sir. I have a letter here establishing the billet in 

 which I serve as secretary of the ICO, which I can submit for the 

 record, or I can read it into the record, depending on your preference. 



Mr. Drewry. But what is the working group? I notice that is set 

 up in capitals over here on the third page, or in initial capitals, and 

 your general discussion seems to be focused on the working group. 



Now what is the distinction between the working group and the 

 ICO? 



Mr. Abel. The working group is not formally constituted as is the 

 ICO itself. When I first acceeded to the position of secretary of 

 the ICO, my first association with the committee in actuality was 

 attending a meeting of the so-called informal working group; and this 

 is nothing more than an assembly of the chairmen of the panels, 

 convened occasionally to review matters which cut across many panel 

 structures. It is a convenience, and it really takes the place of having 

 to convene a great number of panels all together. 



Mr. Drewry. Well, how does the working group know when to 

 form itself into the working group? Does Dr. Wakelin say, "Fellows, 

 we have got some problems here that cut across a number of different 

 panels, and some of the panel chairmen think maybe we had better 

 put some heads together." Does it work out that way, or does the 

 Panel Chairman of the Survey Panel, for instance, say "Mr. Abel, 

 we have got a problem, and I think that it concerns other panels. 

 Let's call the working group together." Does it work like that? 



Mr. Abel. Yes, sir, the latter supposition is more nearly correct. 

 I convene the panel chairmen as a problem arises, according to my own 

 opinion, or perhaps from any of the panel chairmen, or from Com- 

 mander Anastasion. 



Mr. Drewry. And yet it seems to me to be a very potent group. 

 I notice on page 2 that the Special Assistant to the President for 

 Science and Technology, who is Dr. Wiesner, who is head of the 

 Federal Council, of which the ICO is a part, that Dr. Wiesner has 

 directed the working group, not the ICO, to prepare this 10-year 

 program. 



Mr. Abel. That is simply a matter of poor statement on my 

 part, sir. Dr. Wiesner lias requested the ICO to prepare a 10-year 

 plan. In actuality, as I tried to describe in the other part of my 

 testimony, the plan originates within the panels. The panels for- 



