2 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



rapliy and related sciences which are transferred by this Act and! which are in 

 force on the date of enactment of this Act shall continue in force until modified, 

 amended, superseded, or revoked by the Administrator. 



Sec. 6. In the performance of his functions the Administrator is authorized — 



(1) to make, promulgate, issue, and rescind rules and regulations govern- 

 ing the manner of the operation of the Agency and the exercise of its 

 powers ; 



(2) subject to the civil service laws and the Classification Act of 1940, 

 as amended, to appoint and fix the compensation of such officers and em- 

 ployees as may be necessary to carry out its functions ; 



(3) to accept unconditional gifts or donations of services, moneys, or 

 property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible ; 



(4) without regard to section 3648 of the Revised Statutes, as amended 

 (31 tl.S.C. 529), to enter into and perform such contracts, leases, coopera- 

 tive agreements, or other transactions as may be necessary in the conduct 

 of its work and on such terms as it may deem appropriate, with any agency 

 or instrumentality of the United States, or with any State, territory, or 

 I)ossession, or with any political subdivision thereof, or with any person, 

 firm, association, corporation, or educational institution ; 



(5) to use, with their consent, the services, equipment, personnel, and 

 facilities of Federal and other agencies with or without reimbursement, and 

 on a similar basis to cooperate with other public and private agencies and 

 instrumentalities in the use of services, equipment, and facilities, and each 

 department, agency, and instrumentality of the Federal Government shall 

 cooperate fully with the Agency in making its services, equipment, i)ersonnel, 

 and facilities available to the Agency, and any such department, agency, 

 or instrumentality is authorized, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

 to transfer to or receive from the Agency, without reimbursement, supplies 

 and equipment other than the administrative supplies and equipment. 



(6) to establish within the Agency such offices and procedures as may be 

 appropriate to provide for the greatest possible coordination of its activities 

 under this Act with related activities being carried out by other public and 

 private agencies and organizations ; and 



(7) with the approval of the President, to enter into cooperative agree- 

 ments under which officers and employees (including members of the Armed 

 Forces) of any department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive 

 branch of the Government may be detailed by the head of such department, 

 agency, or instrumentality for services in the performance of functions 

 under this Act to the same extent as that to which they might lawfully 

 be assigned in such department, agency, or instrumentality. 



Sec. 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funttion shall be 

 transferred under this Act which the President determines should not be trans- 

 ferred in the interests of national security. 



U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 



Washington, D.C., March 5, 1965. 

 Hon. Herbert C. Bonner, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives . 



Dear Mr. Bonner: The Atomic Energy Commission is pleased to 

 comment on H.R. 921, a bill to establish the National Oceanographic 

 Agency. 



As you know, the Atomic Energy Commission was one of the four 

 Federal agencies that first suggested and participated in efforts to 

 coordinate a national program in oceanography. However, the 

 Commission feels that on balance H.R. 921, which transfers to a newly 

 created National Oceanographic Agency all functions relating to 

 oceanography and related sciences presently performed by other 

 Government agencies, is undesirable. 



In connection with the bill's general purpose of estabhshing a co- 

 ordinated national program for oceanography and related sciences, 



