2 FEDERAL LEGISLATION FOR OCEANOGRAPHY, 1956-65 



March IS, 1959.^ Federal Council for Science and Technology (FCST) 

 established* by Executive Order 10807, to advise and assist the 

 President in Government-wide planning and coordination (Note 



.4)- 

 April 13, 1959. H.R. 6298 introduced by Congressman Overton 



Brooks to amend National Science Foundation Act of 1950 so as 



to provide explicit financial assistance for university teaching 



facilities and for students in oceanography (Note 5) . 



May 1959. Subcommittee on Oceanography, later Interagency Com- 

 mittee on Oceanography (ICO), established under FCST to 

 coordinate programs of some 15 Federal agencies having statutory 

 authority to engage in some phase of oceanographic research 

 (Note 6). 



June 22, 1959. Senate Resolution 136, introduced by Senators Warren 

 G. Magnuson, Clair Engle, and Henry M. Jackson, set forth 

 national policy to strengthen the entire field of oceanography. 

 Passed by the Senate unanimously, the resolution (1) emphasized 

 importance of oceanography to the Nation and the existing legis- 

 lative authority of many agencies to engage in oceanographic 

 research, (2) commended the NASCO report, (3) concurred on 

 NASCO recommendations for a well-balanced and coordinated 

 expansion of the programs with increased Federal funds, (4) pro- 

 posed interagency coordination be developed possibly through a 

 new Oceanographic Research Board or Commission, and (5) 

 urged increased international cooperation and data exchange 

 subject to Presidential supervision. 



August 4, 1959. S. 2482 to remove geographical limitations on opera- 

 tions of Coast and Geodetic Sm-vey introduced by Senators 

 Warren G. Magnuson and Clan- Engle. 



August 11, 1959. H.R. 8611, identical to S. 2482, introduced by 

 Congressman Herbert C. Bonner. 



August 19, 1959. S. 2482 passed by Senate. 



August 25, 1959. Hearings convened on H.R. 6298 by House Science 

 and Astronautics Committee, Subcommittee on Earth Sciences. 



September 5, 1959. S. 2692, Marine Sciences and Research Act of 

 1960, introduced by Senator Warren G. Magnuson (with 12 

 other Senators), contained a specific declaration of policy to 

 strengthen oceanography so that the United States would not be 

 excelled by any other nation. To meet these objectives, it 

 called for a comprehensive 10-year program of research and sur- 

 veys explicitly following funding recommendations of NASCO, 

 and coordinating Federal agencies through a new Division of 

 Marine Sciences in the National Science Foundation (Note 7). 



January 6, 1960. H.R. 9361, identical to S. 2692, was introduced by 

 Congressman Thomas M. Pelly. 



February 9, 1960. Hearings convened by special subcommittee of House 

 Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee on "Oceanographv 

 in the United States — Part II." 



February 15, 1960. H.R. 10412, introduced by Congressman George 

 P. Miller, to establish a public policy and Federal coordination 

 of Federal oceanographic surveys, through a new coordinating 

 Committee on Oceanographic Surveys representing seven 

 agencies. 



April 15, 1960. S. 2482 became Pubhc Law 86-409. 



