116 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



STATEMENT OF HON. BOB BAETLETT, A U.S. SENATOR EROM THE 



STATE OF ALASKA 



Senator Bartlett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do you all have 

 copies of the statement ? 



Mr. Lennon. Yes, we do. You may proceed. 



Senator Bartlett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I must say that,, 

 after having served on this committee for 14 years about half the 

 time, yet when I set out for the Senate Commerce Committee, of which 

 I am a member, instinct almost diverts me to this building;. I enjoyed 

 my service on this committee very much indeed. 



Mr. Chairman, your committee is to be congratulated for undertak- 

 ing a comprehensive review of the U.S. oceanographic and marine re- 

 sources program. This is a significant and enormous task. 



The committee is considering numerous legislative measures relat- 

 ing to oceanography and ocean resource development. The diversity 

 of purposes and approaches reflected in these bills demonstrates clearly 

 that there are many in Congress who feel that the present ocean pro- 

 gram is seriously inadequate. 



Indeed, one might well ask whether we have anything that might 

 properly be termed an oceanographic program. A serious and con- 

 certed program in this area will certainly require something better 

 than our present uncoordinated efforts — represented by a scattering of 

 some 22 separate agency requests for funds. 



Several bills before this committee are concerned with improving' 

 the coordination of present oceanographic activity. Others are di- 

 rected toward a broad reorganization of all of the Federal Govern- 

 ment's ocean-related activities. 



One bill, Mr. Chairman, focuses on the legal problems of ocean re- 

 source development. Several proposals similar to S. 1091, which I in- 

 troduced in the Senate, would create a new agency with a broad mis- 

 sion of marine exploration development. 



Now, Mr. Chairman, we may properly ask what is the reason for 

 the flood of oceanographic legislation introduced this session ? What 

 is the basis of this obvious congressional discontent with our present 

 effort ? I will suggest an answer. 



It is, in my opinion, a failure of this administration and preceding 

 administrations to respond effectively either to the recent advances 

 in the field of marine technology and ocean resource development or 

 to recent changes in the international law of the sea. 



Other nations have not been as hesitant. The Soviet Government, 

 for example, supports extensive oceanographic expeditions for the ex- 

 ploration of mineral resources ; recent reports tell of their discovering 

 manganese nodules on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. The Brit- 

 ish have recently organized a Commercial Oceanology Study Group 

 which will investigate the prospect of developing the minerals re- 

 sources of the sea. 



The U.S. oceanographic activity has thus far been directed pri- 

 marily toward learning more about the oceanic environment. In 

 many respects we have been successful in this scientific effort. It is 

 because of this success, among other reasons, that the focus of our 

 effort in the future will shift to the utilization of the ocean and ocean 

 resources. 



