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Mr. Weldon. Thank you, Mr. Roemer. And let me thank all of 

 our members and our distinguished panel. 



I cannot let this hearing close without thanking the staff. From 

 the National Security Committee, Bill Andahazy, who has done 

 yeomgin's work in this area, has just been fantastic in putting to- 

 gether not just this hearing, but the other hearings that we have 

 held and will be holding in the future. 



From the House Committee on Science, Richard Russell has been 

 fantastic in working with us and letting this issue come to the fore- 

 front and with the cooperation of the Science Committee. 



And from the Committee on Resources, John Rayfield has been 

 fantastic in making sure that we have a coordinated approach. 



It's very difficult to bring three committees as powerful as these 

 three committees, from an authorization standpoint, to come to- 

 gether to agree that we have to work together on this issue if we're 

 going to get the visibility within the Congress. 



Today, it was a rather long hearing, four hours. We had 24 mem- 

 bers of Congress stop by, which I think in itself is an indication of 

 the importance that members place on this subject. Others would 

 have been here, but had conflicts. There is a major briefing under- 

 way on Bosnia, as most of you know, right now. 



Our support for this issue is not just with one hearing. Make no 

 mistake about it. This is not going to be a passing thing. I know, 

 Admiral Watkins, that's your concern. You know me better than 

 that. That's not going to be the case. 



This is a long-term commitment. This is a coordinated effort. We 

 have raised the awareness through a series of hearings. This is the 

 culmination of the first wave of those hearings. We ask you to ful- 

 fill your part of the task ahead of us and to meet the challenge of 

 coordinating those entities involved with oceanographic efforts. 



We can't do that. You've got to coordinate that and you're al- 

 ready, I think, along the way. 



What our task and challenge is is for us to coordinate within the 

 Congress, the committee structures, working with the Administra- 

 tion, and getting the visibility of the appropriators and the other 

 bodies to make things happen. 



I don't think we have to have such a grandiose scheme involving 

 billions of dollars. That's not needed right now. What's needed is 

 a full focus that will allow for better coordination and better aware- 

 ness. 



Those of us who sit on the Science Committee and who support 

 outer space research are not necessarily supporting this in lieu of 

 that support. In fact, we think the two ought to go hand in hand. 



But we are making a commitment and I'm making a personal 

 statement that we will follow through after this hearing is con- 

 cluded and that we will use our voice and our vote to m£Lke sure 

 that we provide the proper mechanisms to allow you to better do 

 your job and better serve not just the people of America, the envi- 

 ronmental concerns that we all have, the security concerns that we 

 all have, and the concerns of the people throughout the world. 



Thank you all. The hearing now stands adjourned. 



[Whereupon, at 2:00 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 



[The following material was received for the record:] 



