OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 175 



Executive Office of the President, 



Bureau of the Budget, 

 Washington, D.C., July 14, 1961. 

 Hon. George P. Miller, 



Chairman, Special Subcommittee on Oceanoffraphy, 

 House of Representatives, Washington, D.G. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : When I appeared before you on June 19, 1961, you and 

 other members of the subcommittee requested that I furnish certain additional 

 language and comments respecting H.R. 4276, a bill to expand and develop the 

 aquatic resources of the United States including the oceans, estuaries, and 

 rivers, the Great Lakes, and other inland waters, to enhance the general wel- 

 fare, and for other purposes. 



As pointed out during our testimony before your subcommittee, the Bureau 

 of the Budget fully supports the objectives of the bill but believes those objec- 

 tives can best be attained by administrative measures, especially in rapidly 

 evolving fields of science and technology. In particular we would urge that a 

 statutory interagency body not be assigned operating responsibilities which are 

 most effectively carried out by agency heads acting under the direction of the 

 President. 



A basic diflBculty with the bill as drafted is that the relationship of the Na- 

 tional Oceanographic Council to the President is not spelled out. As a result, 

 the bill appears to except the heads of departments and agencies serving on the 

 council from Presidential direction. It is, therefore, suggested that one section 

 provide that "functions assigned to the Council by this Act shall be performed 

 under the direction of the President." 



However, if the President is to oversee the activities of the Council a number 

 of other provisions of the bill should be amended. With respect to Council 

 membership needed flexibility could be provided by adding the phrase "The 

 heads of such other departments and agencies as the President may designate" 

 at the end of the listing of Council members in section 2(a) . Appropriate prerog- 

 atives of the President would be maintained in the reporting procedure of 

 section 7 by providing that the annual report "be submitted to the President for 

 transmittal to the Congress." 



Sections 4 and 5 of the bill do not appear to conflict with the responsibilities 

 of the National Bureau of Standards. That Bureau would continue to provide 

 basic standards, tests, and calibrations which could be supplemented by the Coun- 

 cil to meet specialized requirements in oceanography. However, to make clear 

 the specialized nature of the proposed test and calibration center its title might 

 be revised to be the "National Oceanographic Instrumentation Test and Calibra- 

 tion Center." Sections 4 and 5 when considered in conjunction with section 6(b) 

 of the bill make clear that the Council could utilize services of the National 

 Bureau of Standards and other appropriate agencies. 



Section (6(b) (2) could be interpreted as providing that the Council is to 

 transfer funds to agencies for the performance of oceanographic activities. We 

 assume that this is not intended but rather that the Council is to serve as a co- 

 ordinating mechanism in facilitating transfer of funds among agencies as ap- 

 propriate. 



With reference to section 8 of the bill, the Bureau of the Budget agrees with 

 the general policy that title to sizable vessels should remain in the United States. 

 However, there may be circumstances in which transfer of title to a nonprofit 

 institution would be in the national interest, particularly if provision were made 

 for return of the vessel in case of emergency. This could be accomplished by 

 authorizing transfer of title whenever the agency head made a specific finding 

 that transfer would be in the public interest and substantially further the pur- 

 poses of the act. 



With respect to the provisions of section 9 affecting the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, we have arranged with the Institution to furnisli you directly with an out- 

 line of its current and proposed future activities in the aquatic sciences. 



In regard to section 10, we understand that the General Accounting OflBce has 

 submitted a report concerning this section and assume that this will provide the 

 subcommittee with the comments on this section which it desires. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Phillip S. Hughes, 

 Assistant Director for Legislative Reference. 



