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Testimony of Dr. John Orcutt 



Director, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics 



Scripps Institution of Oceanog;raphy 



University of California, San Diego 



Before the 



House National Security Subcommittee on Military Research and 



Development 



and the 



House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment 



February 12, 1996 



Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittees, thcink you for this opj)ortimity 

 to discuss the future of oceanographic research. I am Dr. John Orcutt, Director of the 

 Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography 

 (SIO). I am representing Dr. Edward Frieman, Vice Chancellor of Marine Sciences at 

 the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and Director of Scripps Ii\stitution 

 of Oceanography. Dr. Frieman regrets that he is not able to participate in this 

 important briefing. On behalf of Dr. Frieman and my colleagues at SIO, I want to 

 express our appreciation for your interest in the future of oceanographic research. I 

 also want to thank Admiral Watkins, President of the Consortium for 

 Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE), for his leadership on this issue. 



I have been going to sea for nearly three decades. First as a submariner in the U.S. 

 Navy and later as a marine seismologist studying volcanic mid-ocean ridges. My 

 exf>erience in the Navy heightened my awareness of the importance of 

 understanding ocean processes for national security. Strong federal investment in 

 oceanography since World War n enabled our country to meet the challenges of the 

 Cold War. I am concerned, however, that mission agencies (Navy, NASA, NOAA, 

 DOE) are decreasing their support for discovery research and thereby undermining 

 our capacity to meet the challenges of the next decade. Many of these challenges 

 demand the resources and capabilities of the ocean science community. 

 Strengthening the partnership between the oceanographic community and the 

 federal government is essential to our ability to expand and master new frontiers. 



Scripps Institution of Oceanography was built through a series of partnerships— with 

 the Scripps family, the State of California, the University of California and later with 

 the Navy, NSF and other federal agencies. During World War I, Scripps began 

 several large-scale coof)erative projects with the State and federal government, 

 initiating a practice that we continue today. I will begin my testimony with an 

 overview of Scripps to illustrate what can be built through partnerships. I will then 

 focus on our special partnership with the Department of Defense. I will spend the 

 rest of my testimony discussing one of the most critical issues for the future of U.S. 

 Oceanographic research— the health of the academic fleet, or if you prefer— the 

 "ships" in "partnership." 



