In a follow-on bipartisan initiative, Senator Gore and 

 Director of Central Intelligence Gates established an 

 Environmental Task Force (ETF) of academic scientists to be 

 cleared for access to very highly classified information, and to 

 review intelligence and defense databases and systems to 

 determine their potential usefulness for addressing serious 

 global environmental problems. The Central Intelligence Agency 

 and Defense Department agreed to the plan, and the 

 Oceanographer ' s staff has taken the lead for Navy in responding 

 to ETF requests. Some important decisions have been made. Last 

 July Navy completely declassified all Navy altimetry (or ocean 

 height) data collected from the GEOSAT satellite. The research 

 community has already used this comprehensive data set to produce 

 some startling improvements to the nation's knowledge of global 

 ocean and seafloor features and the earth's gravity field. Navy 

 positions on all ETF data declassification and access requests 

 soon will be submitted through Department of Defense to the Vice 

 President . 



A follow-on effort to the Environmental Task Force is called 

 MEDEA. This group of academic scientists with security 

 clearances has reviewed and reported on additional issues of data 

 release and access, including a comprehensive look at the full 

 range of the Navy's oceanographic data sets. Ocean research uses 

 cf data from the nation's highly classified overhead imagery 

 assets are also a part of this effort. 



Naval oceanographers in both the research and operational 

 communities also participate in many interagency ocean policy 

 activities, as well as working with academic groups, such as 

 KEDEA, the National Academy of Sciences, and Admiral Watkin's 

 Consortium, for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) . The 

 Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, in 

 his testimony, will present some new ideas for expanding 

 oceanography partnerships that have come out of cooperation with 

 these groups. 



Conclusion 



The number of Committees involved in this hearing reflects 

 the importance the House of Representatives places on 

 oceanography. Navy will provide any assistance the committees may 

 require to facilitate their efforts in this area. Navy is 



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