FRONTIERS IN OCEANIC RESEARCH 43 



their content, their boundaries — by substantially accelerating our 

 efforts in an orderly program during the next 10 years. 



From the witnesses who have preceded me you have had expert 

 testimony concerning the importance of the oceans in our national 

 defense. Within the past few days some of the Nation's most distin- 

 guished oceanographers have described to this committee and to Sena- 

 tor Magnuson's Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce our 

 urgent needs in this most important field of oceanography. They 

 have emphasized that a thorough understanding of the ocean medium 

 is essential for our country's defense, for harvesting the abundant 

 foods, minerals, and chemicals from the seas, for the safe disposal of 

 low-level atomic wastes, for worldwide transportation, and for an 

 understanding of the ocean's effect on climate and weather. We are 

 painfully aware that our knowledge and understanding of this inner 

 space is indeed limited but we are not completely ignorant of the 

 problems we are required to solve in this area. 



The scientists who have discussed oceanography with you are 

 leaders in their fields. Through their efforts and their continuing 

 enthusiasm we are now beginning to push back the frontiers. 



It is my purpose to describe for you what is being done to provide 

 a well-planned and coordinated national oceanographic program. 

 Our needs in this field are real and pressing — our efforts need not be 

 expanded simply to overcome a lag behind some other world power in 

 this field of science. 



Recognizing the seriousness of inadequate oceanographic informa- 

 tion from the scientific, technical, and military points of view, the 

 Federal Council for Science and Technology established a subcom- 

 mittee last summer to prepare a coordinated national oceanographic 

 program. This committee, now called the Interagency Committee on 

 Oceanography, has recently been made a permanent instrument of the 

 Federal Council with representation from the Departments of De- 

 fense, Commerce, Interior, Health, Education, and Welfare, the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, and the Atomic Energy Commission. 



The Interagency Committee carefully reviewed the report of the 

 National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council's Commit- 

 tee on Oceanography. In this report the Academy recommended a 

 minimal program for long-term growth at an achievable rate in train- 

 ing of scientific manpower, construction of adequate ships and lab- 

 oratories, as well as a technical program for research and ocean 

 surveys. 



The Interagency Committee concurred generally with the National 

 Academy and concluded that the report accurately stated the Nation's 

 scientific needs in oceanography. In the development of a national 

 oceanographic program, we are concerned on the one hand with the 

 assessment of the needs of oceanography and, on the other, with the 

 limitations upon its development. The critical limitations are scien- 

 tific manpower, funds, and time. Of course, I refer to a special kind 

 of time- — leadtime for the construction of ships and shore laboratories 

 and for the training of the additional scientists. 



The Interagency Committee recommended to the Federal Council 

 that the United States undertake a substantial and orderly expansion 

 of activity in oceanography. The Committee stated that vigorous 

 action must be taken to stimulate the growth of educational pro- 



