216 OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 



This is a matter that has been in discussion, here, for some time, and 

 one that we hope to resolve. 



Professor Lewis, we are very happy to liave you here, and we will 

 be glad to hear from you now. 



STATEMENT OF PEOF. EDWIN J. B. LEWIS, GEOEGE WASHINGTON 

 UNIVEESITY SCHOOL OF GOVEENMENT, BUSINESS, AND INTEE- 

 NATIONAL AFFAIES 



Professor Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I deem it not o;nly a pub- 

 lic duty but a high privilege to come here at your invitation to dis- 

 cuss the financial and related management aspects of the proposed 

 Oceanographic Act of 1961, H.R. 4276. 



Those who serve on this committee or who work with it are well 

 aware of the vital significance of oceanography to the advancement 

 of our national welfare. The very existence of this committee gives 

 emphasis to the great national importance of the resources contained 

 in the seas that surround us and contributes immeasurably to the 

 growing public recognition of the urgent need for mastering the 

 largely unknown aquatic forces of our planet. 



The various witnesses who have preceded me in these hearings have 

 abundantly demonstrated the problems inherent in the existing frag- 

 mented approach to the task of mastering the ocean environment. iVl- 

 though a number of witnesses have referred to the national program 

 in oceanography, there exists today no agency of Government which 

 can appear before the Congress to testify comprehensively and 

 knowledgeably on the progress of the program in all of its many- 

 ramifications. Earlier committee reports fully document the fact 

 that the oceanographic program is being conducted by numerous 

 scattered agencies having varying interests and overlapping juris- 

 diction, but they fail to provide any reasonable assurance that these 

 scattered agency efforts are being integrated into a purposeful, ap- 

 propriately balanced, national program. 



An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the oceanographic 

 program now being conducted is beyond mj^ professional competence. 

 I am not a scientist, and I know relatively little of scientific endeav- 

 ors. My professional specialty is financial management, which is of 

 course inseparable from administration and management in general. 

 Management, however, is an element common to all business and Gov- 

 ernment endeavor, and there is no reason for regarding scientific en- 

 deavors as being in any way immune from the influence of basic man- 

 agement considerations. The factors conducive to effective program 

 management, and therefore to constructive program achievement, must 

 be sought in any program, scientific or otherwise, if that program is 

 to achieve its full Dotential. 



As a practical matter, the characteristics and magnitude of the 

 oceanographic efforts required to obtain mastery of the aquatic re- 

 sources defined in the proposed act are such that the program must be 

 the responsibility of the Federal Government. Only the Federal 

 Government can make sure that the overall program is adequate, 

 that requirements have been fully and systematically determined, and 

 that the necessary facilities have been established — regardless of 



