NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 151 



I, therefore, urgently recommend when the various committees of the Congress 

 review this portion of their pro-am they keep its entirety in mind." 



Mr. Chairman, H.R. 5654 provides the mechanism by which this unified view of 

 oceanography can be developed as a matter of purpose and implemented as a 

 matter of executive management that now displays lack of continuity a)id sus- 

 tained momentum. This bill would also provide an unprecedented opportunity 

 for the Congress also to view this program as a single entity. 



While I advocate the principle that mission-oriented Government agencies 

 should be given increased capacity to perform their missions, I likewise stress 

 with equal vigor that university laboratories and research institutes should be 

 given the responsibility of performing the supporting basic research. Obviously, 

 no clear cleavage is possible between these roles which meet and merge impercep- 

 tibily so that each kind of agency must have the capacity to do both, but nonethe- 

 less it seems useful to define the basic roles in this way. 



Of course, there is too much research to be accomplished to allow duplication 

 to exist. But this is not a simple principle to apply either, since what might be 

 regarded on casual inspection to be wasteful duplication might in fact be neces- 

 sary cross-checking of experimental finds, an integral part of the scientific 

 method. To distinguish between duplication and necessary cro.ss-checking re- 

 quires the most active kind of cooperation. This implies consultation at the high- 

 est level between various agencies in Government and between Government and 

 vmiversity and research scientists. 



In the enthusiasm for increasing the tempo of oceanographic and fishery 

 research in the Unted States, involving massive new programs, new vessels and 

 new laboratories, one all-important aspect is frequently brushed aside lightly or 

 even completely ignored. This is the problem of who is going to staff the pro- 

 grams and laboratories and to man the vessels. What makes research go is not 

 equipment or buildings or boats, no matter how elaborate or expensive, but 

 trained raen. These are not available now in the numbers necessary to stalf 

 existing programs. Yet the United States is making plans for twice to four times 

 the amount of work in the next few years. So the universities are faced with the 

 necessity of training oceanographers and fishery scientists at rates far above 

 those in the past. These universities must be given the capability to do this 

 heavy task — a point nearly ignored up to now. 



Training in such complex professions as these must be at the graduate level, 

 and this is expensive. It has been estimated that it costs about $5,000' per year 

 to train oceanographers — about the same as to train a medical student. The high 

 cost in both cases is because of the elaborate equipment necessary ; in fisheiy 

 science and oceanography there is the additional cost of expensive boat time 

 (which often runs to $1,000 to $2,000 per day) . 



To train men to become professional research scientists, they must be given 

 continuous and varied practice in research. And this cannot be in artificial 

 problems invented for class exercises; they must be real problems to be solved 

 by active participation of the student alongside an experienced and skilled 

 research scientist. 



Thus, the only realistic kind of support for universities given the responsibility 

 of training oceanographers is for support for research programs. It is fortu- 

 nate that this kind of support serves two valuable purposes: to solve problems 

 facing the United States in its pursuit of understanding of the ocean, and to 

 train scientists who will staff the laboratories and programs for future assault 

 on these problems. 



In the bills to strengthen oceanography and fishery research being considered 

 here, specific provision should be made for the kind of support for universities 

 described above, including the granting of specific authorization and direction to 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service or its successors to support and finance grants and 

 contracts to universities for fishery problems. 



Mr. Fascell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As usual, you are very 

 alert and very courteous. 



Mr. LENNOisr. One question. Your bill, H.R. 5654, corresponds to 

 Senate bill 944 but is wider in scope, is it not? 



Mr. Fascell. I believe it is. I haven't checked the amendments 

 that came over from the Senate side. 



Mr. Leistnox. I was very much interested in the last paragraph of 

 your statement on page 5 and all of page 6. We will not have time 



