NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPllIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 85 



General Counsel of the Treasury, 



Washmgton, D.C.,Ju7yoO, 1905. 

 Hon. Herbert C. Bonner, 



Chairman^ Coinmlttee onMercJiaiit Alarine mid Fisheries, 

 Hoiuse of Eepresenfati'ves, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : Reference is made to your request for the 

 views of this Department on H.R. 7849, to provide for the develop- 

 ment of ocean resources, to provide for economic development of the 

 Continental Shelf, to provide for expanded research in the oceans and 

 the Great Lakes, to establish a National Oceanographic Council, and 

 for other purposes. 



This bill combines the provisions of other bills introduced in the 89th 

 Congress of which H.R. 5654 and H.R. 6009 are representative. One 

 title of the bill provides for the establishment of a National Oceano- 

 graphic Council in the Executive Office of the President. The Council 

 would be chaired by the Vice President and vfould be composed of the 

 heads of certain executive departments and agencies. It would em- 

 ploy a staff headed by an Executive Director. The chief responsibility 

 of the Council would be to coordinate w^ork in oceanography being 

 carried out by the various departments and agencies of the Federal 

 Government. A second title of the bill w^ould establish a Marine Ex- 

 ploration and Development Commission composed of five members — ■ 

 two from private life appointed by the President and the Secretaries 

 of Defense, Interior, and Commerce. This Commission would be 

 charged with the formulation and carrying out of programs for the 

 purpose of exploration and development of the marine resources of 

 the Continental Shelf. 



The Department is in favor of the purposes of the bill which are to 

 advance the national program on oceanography and to advance the 

 national interest in exploration and development of the resources 

 of the Continental Shelf. It questions, however, whether the pro- 

 posed bill offers the most effective method of achieving these purposes. 

 With respect to oceanography, coordination at the present time is 

 achieved through the use of the Interagency Committee on Oceanog- 

 raphy formed by the Federal Council for Science and Technology. 

 The Department believes that this basic approach should be continued 

 and is opposed to the creation of another office or agency with inde- 

 pendent authority and responsibility in the field. 



With respect to the proposed Commission, it is believed that the 

 function and programs of that Commission would overlap the duties 

 and responsibilities currently vested in other offices and agencies with 

 respect to oceanography. The latter covers basic disciplines of science 

 and engineering and contains within its spectrum such categories as 

 marine biology, geology, physics, chemistry, fisheries, and ocean fore- 

 casting. From this partial listing, it is apparent that some functions 

 of the proposed Commission would include many of the phases of 

 oceanography currently within the scope of the existing national pro- 

 gram on oceanography. 



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

 tive measure for assuring coordination of the efforts of the various 

 Government agencies in the area of oceanography. For the reasons 

 given above, the Department believes that the establishment of a 



