10 



Ms. Johnson or Mr. Meehan, do either of you have opening state- 

 ments you'd hke to make? Thank you both for attending. 



Would you hke to make an opening statement? 



Ms. Johnson. Just a short one. I want to first express my appre- 

 ciation for bringing the three committees together to have this 

 hearing and to thank this most distinguished panel for being here. 

 I look forward to hearing from you. 



I'm from Dallas, Texas, and the only ocean we have is the Trinity 

 River. 



[Laughter.! 



But I would like most of you, if you could, to comment on the 

 public/private partnerships and other types of research as well as 

 you give your testimony. 



I would hate to miss this opportunity with such a distinguished 

 panel because I'm very, very supportive and strongly interested in 

 the public/private partnerships in research and development. 



So I thank you very much. 



[The prepared statement of Congresswoman Johnson follows:] 



OPENING STATEMENT 



THE HONORABLE EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 



JOINT HEARING ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



25 JANUARY 1996 



Thank j-ou, Mr. Chainnan. 



With the changes taking place in the Department of Defense regarding the shar- 

 ing of information about the ocean, we now have a clear opportunity to Team more 

 about the role the ocean plays in such fields as energy production. 



I look forward to the testimony today concerning basic and applied research in 

 the field of oceanography. I hope the witnesses can comment on energy opportuni- 

 ties that could flow from this research. 



Looking at the quality of the witnesses that will testify before us today, I would 

 also ask that the witnesses comment in general terms about the research and devel- 

 opment policy of the Nation in fields other than oceanography. It has been a prime 

 concern of many of us on the Committee on Science that the Nation's investment 

 in research and public-private partnerships is declining at a time when the Nation 

 needs to commit itself to advancing our technology. Perhaps some of our witnesses 

 could comment on our needs in these areas. 



I commend all three of the Committees involved here today for holding this hear- 

 ing, and I look forward to receiving the testimony of our most distinguished panel. 



Mr. Weldon. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. And before we proceed 

 with our distinguished panel, I've asked the host/chairman if he 

 would mind, if staff wants to sit in the first row, they can feel free 

 to do so, and that would then free up some seats for those who are 

 currently standing in the back. 



So any of you v/ho are staff who would like to m.ove out of seats 

 and move up into here, you're welcomed to do that, and that would 

 then free up some other seats. 



Our panel today is certainly a distinguished panel. And as I said, 

 this is certainly a landmark hearing. 



We will start with Doctor — and I'll introduce each of them, then 

 we'll have the entire panel proceed, and then we'll open it up for 

 questions: 



Dr. Robert Ballard is senior scientist and director of the Center 

 of Marine Exploration at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. 

 He will be our first witness. 



