25 



Testimony of 

 '-l5r. Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences 



before the 



House Committee on National Security, Subcommittee on Military Research and 

 Development - Rep. Curt VVeldon (PA), Chairman, 



the 



House Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans - 

 Rep. Jim Saxton (NJ), Chairman, 



and the 



House Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment - 

 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA), Chainnan 



25 January 1996 



Chairman Weldon, Chairman Saxton, Chairman Rohrabacher, and Members of the 

 Subcommittees: I am Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences and 

 chairman of the National Research Council (NRC), the operatmg arm of the National 

 Academies of Sciences and Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. I am pleased to 

 testify before you today on a topic of great importance -- the health and future of this 

 nation's scientific investigation of the world's oceans. Over the past several years, boards 

 and committees of the NRC have studied the nature and health of various aspects of U.S. 

 research into the physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes that characterize the 

 fluid that covers two-thirds of our planet's surface. These studies have highlighted the 

 critical role that the ocean plays in global-scale processes as well as the importance that 



