158 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



I couldn't disagree more with this negative and shortsighted out- 

 look, and that is why I filed H.R. 6009. Another factor that prompted 

 my interest in this particular approach was the convention on the 

 Continental Shelf, which entered into force for the United States on 

 June 10, 1964. The convention, as the subcommittee laiows, recognizes 

 the rights and responsibilities of a littoral nation to the resources of 

 the Continental Shelf to a depth of 200 meters — and beyond that, to 

 the limits of our technical capabilities. 



Mr. Chairman, I have had this large map prepared to illustrate 

 the area with which my bill is concerned. Prepared through the co- 

 operation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, it depicts the limits of the 

 Shelf to the 200-meter curve. I have an 8 by 10 black and white 

 photograph of this same map, which I will be glad to make available 

 to the subcommittee for the hearing record. 



Mr. Lennon". Without objection, the map may appear at this point 

 in the record. 



(The map referred to faces this page.) 



Mr. Keith. This international agreement not only safeguards our 

 coastal resources, it presents to us a challenge which must be met. 

 There is just no question that as a nation we are ultimately going to 

 have to exploit the resources of the oceans — it will be a matter of sur- 

 vival. It is imperative, as a world leader, that the United States 

 recognize this in a meaningful way in the very near future. 



H.R. 6009 provides the machinery for beginning to meet this 

 challenge right now. The commission for which it provides can be 

 at work, in earnest, and pioneering projects can be initiated and funded 

 while the Congress and the executive branch further consider the 

 wisdom of creating an all-encompassing National Oceanographic 

 Agency or the even broader concept proposed by some members, which 

 would establish a distinct Department of Marine and Atmospheric 

 Affairs. 



Another very important aspect of my bill and those filed by Senator 

 Bartlett and Congressman Ralph Rivers is that careful provision is 

 made to make private enterprise and private industry full partners 

 in the exploration and development of hydrospace. This is the great- 

 est advantage our free society has over a nation like the Soviet Union, 

 which clearly ranks oceanography as a national priority program. 

 The competitive spirit and technical excellence of American industry 

 can be a tremendous asset in the race to unlock the mysteries of the sea 

 and to put its vast resources to work for the security and the economic 

 welfare of the free world. 



Perhaps this particular bill's greatest immediate virtue is that it is a 

 sound and workable compromise somewhere midway between the 

 superagency approach — the so-called Wet-NASA — and the other end 

 of the spectrum of proposals before the subcommittee, which is basic- 

 ally a statement of purpose and congressional interest coupled with a 

 legislative affirmation of what is currently being done in the national 

 oceanographic program by the exceutive branch with existing execu- 

 tive authority. Congressman Bob Wilson's NOA, National Oceano- 

 graphic Agency, may be too ambitious at this time, in a political sense. 

 The bills at the other extreme, in my opinion, are not commensurate 

 with the challenge. 



