NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION HI 



Section 4 of S. 944 would establish an investigatory commission 

 comparable to the commission which would be established by H.E,. 

 9064. We do not see any need for an investigatory commission at this 

 time. We refer you to our letter to you of July 29, 1965, commenting 

 on H.K. 9064, for the remainder of our views on investigatory com- 

 missions. 



Section 3(f) (Y) would require a study of legal problems arising 

 from use of marine resources. Our views on that subject are con- 

 tained in our letter to you of May 4, 1965, commenting on H.E, 5175. 



We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there 

 would be no objection to the submission of our report from the stand- 

 point of the administration's program. 

 Sincerely, 



Robert E. Giles. 



Department of the Navt, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Office of Legislati^te Affairs, 

 Washington, D.G., Septemher 11^, 1965. 

 Hon. Herbert C. Bonner, 



Chairman, Gommittee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, 

 Washington, D.G. 



My Dear Mr. Chairman: Your request for comment on S. 944, an 

 act to provide for expanded research and development in the marine 

 environment of the United States, to establish a National Council on 

 Marine Resources and Engineering Development, and a Commission 

 on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources, and for other pur- 

 poses, as passed by the Senate on August 5, 1965, has been assigned to 

 this Department by the Secretary of Defense for the preparation of a 

 report thereon expressing the views of the Department of Defense. 



S. 944 would establish a National Council on Marine Resources and 

 Engineering Development consisting of members at the Cabinet level 

 and the Vice President as Chairman. The Council's prerogatives 

 would extend into the areas of both marine sciences and engineering. 

 Further, the President is authorized to establish a 15-member Com- 

 mission that would report to the President through the Comicil. 

 The Commission would consist of five members from the Govern- 

 ment, five from industry, and five from universities, institutions, or 

 laboratories. The Commission would be dissolved upon submission 

 of its fuial report due no later than 18 months after the establishment 

 of the Commission. 



The objectives of this bill are unquestionably worthwhile; how- 

 ever, the mechanism proposed would put the marine sciences and engi- 

 neering in an awkward position vis-a-vis the rest of science supported 

 by the Federal Government. The Council on Marine Resources and 

 Engineering Development as proposed in S. 944 would be on the same 

 level, or perhaps even above, that of the Federal Council for Science 

 and Teclniology to whose work it is closely related. It is difficult to 

 envisage how the administrative complications in such an arrange- 

 ment could be resolved. Further, establisliment of the proposed 



