276 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



by the executive branch and transmitted to the Congress in the long- 

 range plan for oceanography. The general goal stated in the plan is : 



To comprehend the world ocean, its boundaries, its properties, and its processes, 

 and to exploit this comprehension in the national interest, in enhancement of our 

 security, our culture, our international posture, and our economic growth. 



We proceed toward this goal by strengthening basic science, im- 

 proving national defense, managing ocean resources, protecting life 

 and property, and insuring the safety of operations at sea — through 

 a concerted national effort in oceanography. The long-range plan can 

 be viewed as an outline of requirements over a decade, in which con- 

 text annual plans can be prepared according to needs, opportunities, 

 and a desirable balance between capital investments and operating 

 programs. 



Programs and issues developed by the ICO are reviewed by the Fed- 

 eral Council and appropriate recommendations are made. Thus, the 

 advice of the ICO is available directly to me as Chairman of the Fed- 

 eral Council and as Director of the Office of Science and Technology. 

 This means that oceanography can be and is presented and discussed as 

 a single Federal program in the Executive Office of the President. 



To the extent that a consensus can be. reached among the participat- 

 ing agencies involving new budgetary or policy matters, the Federal 

 Council's recommendations are implemented directly by agency action. 

 Otherwise, its recommendations are implemented within the agencies 

 by persuasion from the Office of Science and Technology, in concert 

 with the Bureau of the Budget. 



The other important Committee, besides the Federal Council, that 

 exists to give advice to the President on activities in science and tech- 

 nology, is the President's Science Advisory Committee. The PSAC, 

 as it is called, is composed of distinguished scientists and engineers 

 selected from outside of Government on the basis of personal scientific 

 and technical achievements of the highest order. The Committee's 

 purpose is to make available to the President the very best scientific 

 and technical advice in this countiy on such policies and programs as 

 he might select. In addition, it is the Committee's function to rec- 

 ommend broad programs and policies and to anticipate problems 

 which may face the President and the country in the future. 



In this regard there are now important scientific and technical ques- 

 tions relating to the oceanographic program, and a panel of the Presi- 

 dent's Science Advisory Committee, the Panel on Oceanography, has 

 been formed to study such questions. Over the course of the next 9 

 months the Panel will study the needs and opportunities and current 

 activities in oceanography in order to recommend an irnproved pro- 

 gram in terms of scientific merit, technological application, scientific 

 and engineering leadership, and means whereby industrial, academic, 

 and Federal resources can be jointly and effectively employed in this 

 program. 



The Panel's Chairman is Dr. Gordon MacDonald, a member of the 

 President's Science Advisory Committee, a distinguished scientist who 

 is currently the Deputy Director of the Institute of Geophysics and 

 Planetary Phvsics of the University of California. The Panel is com- 

 posed of 10 other prominent scientists and engineers from universities, 

 private institutions, and industry, who have taken an active part in 



