2 PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IN OCEANOGRAPITi" 



Government agencies without destroying or impeding their autonomy. 

 It permits the maximum use of all the technical resources, knowledge, 

 and skills of the country. Government, private or commercial, in an 

 endeavor of equal or greater importance than the exploration of space. 



NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION 



Through its Subcommittee on Oceanography your committee has 

 been studying and investigating the status of the marine sciences in 

 the United States and the need for a national program in oceanog- 

 raphy. The committee's efforts in this direction are summarized 

 later in this report under the heading, "Background of the Legisla- 

 tion." Your committee feels that the clearest statement of the needs 

 of the United States for a broad national effort in oceanography can be 

 found in President Kennedy's message to Congress on oceanography 

 on March 29, 1961 (Executive Communication No. 734). The follow- 

 ing excerpt from that message states the case comprehensively, yet 

 concisely: 



The seas around us, as I pointed out in my message to the 

 Congress on February 23, represent one of our most impor- 

 tant resources. If vigorously developed, this resource can 

 be a source of great benefit to the Nation and to all mankind. 



But it will require concerted action, purposefully directed, 

 with vision and ingenuity. It will require the combined 

 efforts of our scientists and institutions, both pubhc and 

 private, and the coordinated efforts of many Federal agen- 

 cies. It will involve substantial investments in the early 

 years for the construction and operation of ship and shore 

 facilities for research and surveys, the development of new 

 instruments for charting the seas and gathering data, and the 

 training of new scientific manpower. 



We are just at the threshold of our knowledge of the oceans. 

 Already their military importance, their potential use for 

 weather predictions, for food, and for minerals are evident. 

 Further research will undoubtedly disclose additional uses. 



Knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity. 

 Our very survival may hinge upon it. Although under- 

 standing of our marine environment and maps of the ocean 

 floor would afford to our military forces a demonstrable 

 advantage, we have thus far neglected oceanography. We 

 do not have adequate charts of more than 1 or 2 percent of 

 the oceans. 



The seas also offer a wealth of nutritional resources. They 

 already are a principal source of protein. They can provide 

 many times the current food supply if we but learn how to 

 garner and husband this self-renewing larder. To meet the 

 vast needs of an expanding population, the bounty of the sea 

 must be made more available. Within two decades, our own 

 Nation will require over a million more tons of seafood than 

 we now harvest. 



Mineral resources on land will ultimately reach their 

 limits. But the oceans hold untapped sources of such basic 

 minerals as salt, potassium, and magnesium in virtually 

 limitless quantities. We will be able to extract additional 



