23 



STATEMENT OF DR. BRUCE ALBERTS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL 

 ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Dr. Alberts. Chairman Weldon, Chairman Saxton, Chairman 

 Rohrabacher, and members, I'm pleased to be here todaj'. I'm presi- 

 dent of the National Academy of Sciences and in that position, I 

 chair the National Research Council, which is the operating arm of 

 the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. 



I'm of course here to testify about a matter of great importance 

 and in doing so, I'll call on some previous studies, one just released 

 this morning of the National Research Council dealing directly 

 with U.S. oceanographic research. 



There are two reports that you've been provided with of particu- 

 lar relevance and I'll mention them in my testimony. Of course, my 

 written testimony is much more explicit than I can manage in oral 

 statement. 



The bottom line is that ocean science is a vitally important en- 

 deavor. In addition to maintaining the fisheries resources, our na- 

 tion is faced with many other pressing marine issues, and they 

 were mentioned by the Chairman this morning — economic competi- 

 tiveness, national security, coastal hazards, environmental quality, 

 biodiversity, and global change. 



The question before us today is how can we ensure that the Unit- 

 ed States will continue to be a world leader or the world leader in 

 ocean science and technology development in the years ahead? 



My main point is this — the need for enhanced understanding of 

 the ocean calls on us to strengthen the partnerships among federal 

 agencies, academia, and the private sector. These issues have been 

 directly covered in extensive studies which I can't do justice to 

 today. I'll just mention some of them, very important recommenda- 

 tions, starting first with this report called "Oceanography — the 

 Next Decade — Building New Partnerships." 



In this 1992 report, the National Research Council made several 

 recommendations regarding the future of ocean science that I be- 

 lieve should guide any discussion of enhancing our nation's ocean 

 science effort, and I'll go through five of them quickly. 



The first recommendation is that each agency with an ocean mis- 

 sion should establish permanent mechanisms for ensuring outside 

 scientific advice, re\'iew and interaction. 



The excellent relationships of the National Science Foundation 

 and the Office of Naval Research with the academic community 

 must be maintained and strengthened. 



In addition, we need stronger partnerships between academic sci- 

 entists in NOAA, NASA, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, and the Minerals Management Service. This would 

 assure us of diversity and vitality in the national oceanographic ef- 

 fort. 



The second recommendation is that because no single agency is 

 able to oversee the total marine science agenda, a more effective 

 means needs to be found for agencies to interact at the policy level 

 and formulate action plans. 



You'll hear more specific ideas later. 



Such integrated planning must recognize the diverse roles that 

 various individuals, agencies and research organizations play in 

 our nation's ocean science effort. 



