OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 147 



STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES H. WAKELIN, JE., ASSISTANT SECRE- 

 TARY OF THE NAVY FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; AC- 

 COMPANIED BY CAPT. WILLIAM J. MORAN, AIDE, AND COMDR. 

 S. N. ANASTASION, SPECIAL ASSISTANT 



Mr. Wakelin. Thank you, sir. 



Mr. Chairman, I have a statement which I can read or I can leave 

 with you for inclusion in the record, whichever is your desire. 



Mr. Miller. If you have the time, Mr. Secretary, I think we would 

 like you to give your statement. 



Mr. Wakelin. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, I welcome and appreciate the oppor- 

 tunity of appearing before you today to discuss the present status of 

 Federal oceanographic activity. It is my intention, as Chairman of 

 the Interagency Committee on Oceanography to comment on the oper- 

 ations of the Committee and the development of the national 

 oceanographic program for fiscal year 1962. Following this, as 

 Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development, I will 

 briefly describe the Navy's oceanographic program, including its rela- 

 tionship to the overall national effort. 



The United States has a vital need to know more about the vast 

 ocean expanses of the earth. T^Tiile we do not yet understand the 

 marine environment to a degree we consider adequate, we all realize 

 fully the implications of the ocean resources as they relate to our 

 economic and military well-being. This relationship, the problems 

 involved in attaining our urgent requirements, have been fully ex- 

 plored in this and past committee hearings, in specific reports devel- 

 oped by Congress and in the comprehensive survey recently published 

 by the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Oceanography. 

 President Kennedy, in several statements and addresses during the 

 past few months, has highlighted the Nation's interests in oceanogra- 

 phy and has forwarded to Congress his national program. I would 

 like to draw upon this past fund of expert and well- documented testi- 

 mony as the basis upon which now I will proceed to describe the devel- 

 opment of our national program. 



While I am certain that the past history of the Interagency Com- 

 mittee on Oceanography is well known to you, I believe that a brief 

 review for the record would be appropriate. You will recall that 

 in August 1959, the Federal Council for Science and Technology estab- 

 lished a Subcommittee on Oceanography to review the proposed na- 

 tional oceanographic program recommended by the National Academy 

 of Sciences Committee on Oceanography. Upon review of the sub- 

 committee's report and in recognition of the fact that oceanography 

 was indeed an area of science which required emphasis and support 

 at the highest level, the Federal Council in January of 1960 estab- 

 lished as a permanent committee under the Council the Interagency 

 Committee on Oceanography, with the general mission of providing 

 that coordinating mechanism among Government agencies engaged in 

 oceanographic activities for the development of a meaningful n itional 

 progi'am. Its effectiveness in performing this broad mission has led 

 to the reaffirmation on March 10, 1961, of its permanent status as a 

 committee under the Council by the Chairman of the Council, Dr. 

 Jerome B. Wiesner. 



