14 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



If the bill contemplates the role of the Agency as chiefly operational, 

 it would introduce a division of responsibility and action of an impre- 

 cise and artificial ground. Wliere does the "oceanography" aspect of, 

 for example, ocean-station vessels begin and end ? Clearly, under 14 

 U.S.C. 90, the maintenance of an ocean station is not primarily an 

 oceanographic task. The personnel directly engaged in taking bathy- 

 thermograph readings are obviously engaged in oceanographic work. 

 The personnel who maintain the position of the vessel at an ocean 

 station for this purpose as well as others assigned to the vessel as an 

 ocean-station vessel are just as obviously not engaged directly in 

 oceanographic work. Yet, the latter personnel are essential both to 

 oceanographic and nonoceanographic functions of the vessel. The 

 joint accomplishment of separate tasks to which the organization of 

 the Coast Guard so readily lends itself seems to suggest that a working 

 system exists which would be jeopardized if the proposed will were 

 enacted. 



If the bill contemplates the role of the Agency as chiefly coordinat- 

 ing, the result will be dual and competing channels of authority ; one 

 in the new Agency and others in the agencies having facilities used to 

 carry out the work. Such a duplication would lead to confusion and 

 unnecessary expense. At the present time, coordination is achieved 

 by the Interagency Conunittee on Oceanography, formed by the Fed- 

 eral Council for Science and Technology. It has been suggested that 

 this present cooperation be put on a more formal basis. H.E. 2218, 

 a bill to provide for, among other things, a coordinated national pro- 

 gram in oceanography offers a workable program without involving 

 the transfer of personnel, equipment, and funds and without duplicat- 

 ing unnecessarily the organization which would be required to trans- 

 late the program of the new Agency into execution by the various 

 cooperating agencies. This Department supports the enactment of 

 H.E. 2218. 



The second difficulty in interpretation of H.K. 921 relates to the 

 vagueness and uncertainty surrounding the scope of operation of the 

 proposed Agency. The Department suggests that an agency limited 

 only by the generic term "oceanography*' can cause chaos in the field. 

 The very real difficulty is the lack of a precise definition of "ocean- 

 ography." Oceanography cannot be defined in clear-cut terms of 

 reference. It covers basic disciplines of science and engineering. 

 The broad spectrum of the basic sciences (i.e., marine biology, geol- 

 ogy, physics, and chemistry) as well as their practical application 

 (i.e., charts, harbor improvements, aids to navigation, fisheries, ocean 

 forecasting) makes most difficult the resolution of the term "oceanog- 

 raphy" into workable and practical guidelines, both for the transfer 

 of personnel, equipment, funds, and functions to the new Agency and 

 for the determination of the powers and authority to be exercised by 

 the new Agency. 



The Department has stated its support of H.E. 2218 as a construc- 

 tive measure for assuring coordination of the efforts of the various 

 Government agencies in tlie area of oeeanographv. For the reasons 

 given above, the Department believes that the establishment of a new 

 agency, as outlined in the proposed bill, will not achieve that result in 

 as desirable a manner. 



