58 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection 

 to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the administra- 

 tion's program. 

 Sincerely, 



Ramsey Clark, 

 Deputy Attorney General. 



National Academy of Sciences, 



Washington, D.C., April 23, 1965. 

 Hon. Herbert C Bonner, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Congressman Bonner: Over the last 3 months you have 

 been kind enough to refer to us for our information, and such comment 

 as we might wish to make, several bills having to do with the Federal 

 Government's arrangements for developing, coordination, and funding 

 the national oceanographic program. 



Our Committee on Oceanography has welcomed the opportunity 

 to review these bills. The Committee has long recognized the need 

 for a more unified approach to the oceanography program among the 

 Federal agencies. The Committee considers such an approach to be 

 especially desirable with reference to those elements of the program 

 that involve the missions of several different agencies, for example, 

 the study of air-sea interactions, the development and use of deep- 

 diving vehicles and other means of deep-sea investigation, and the 

 study of ocean resources. 



While the Committee does not have an adequate basis for recomf 

 mending a particular mechanism for achieving the desired unity of 

 approach, its members feel that efforts at the appropriate level o- 

 the executive branch, for example, the Office of Science and Tech- 

 nology, in consultation with the congressional committees concerred, 

 can undoubtedly result in an effective solution of the problem. 

 Yours sincerely, 



Frederick Seitz, President. 



National Science Foundation, 



Office of the Director, 

 Washington, D.C, July 28, 1965. 

 Hon. Herbert C. Bonner, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House oj Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in further reply to your request for 

 the views of the National Science Foundation on H.R. 6457, a bill 

 to provide for a comprehensive, long-range, and coordinated national 

 program in oceanography, and for other purposes. 



The primary objective of H.R. 6457 would be the establishment, 

 in the Office of Science and Technology, of a National Oceanographic 

 Council, consisting of representatives from 10 Federal organizations. 

 The function of the Council would be to advise and assist the President 

 with respect to matters in the field of oceanography and the marine 

 sciences. The Council would have a staff headed by a civilian execu- 



