NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 503 



Mr.McKERNAN. Yes. 



Mr. Lennon. And does the Chairman designate the full-time 

 Executive Secretary of ICO ? 



Mr. McKernan. Yes, but he has done this with the general con- 

 currence of the members of ICO. 



Mr. Lennon. Do you know of any better arrangement you could 

 have than that ? 



Mr. McKernan. No, the office itself is simply not adequately 

 financed. It is very difficult for the separate agencies to get adequate 

 financing for a line item of this amount, and Navy has carried the 

 burden here. I know this has been a difficult thing for Navy to fi- 

 nance adequately. Most of us in ICO believe that perha]:)S double 

 the present financing might be required for an adequate staff working 



as the ICO secretariat. The reason for this 



Mr. Lennon. You are talking in terms of how much money on an 

 annual basis. 

 Mr. McKernan. Maybe in the neighborhood of $300,000 or 



$400,000. And this is a guess, Mr. Chairman, I have not 



Mr. Lennon. Out of a budget of $141 million you cannot get 

 $400,000 or $350,000 or $500,000 from the various agencies to staff an 

 ICO council ? 



Mr. McKernan. We have not yet, Mr. Chairman. 

 Mr. Lennon. That is because agencies will not give up any part of 

 their appropriations, is it not ? 



Mr. McKernan. It could be characterized as that. 

 Mr. Lennon. How much does the Department of Interior put in ? 

 Mr. McKernan. $9,000. 

 Mr. Lennon. Out of about what, $14 million ? 

 Mr. McKernan. Yes. 



Mr. Lennon. $9,000 out of $14 million? And just for curiosity, 

 what does the Department of Commerce put in ? 



Mr. McKernan. I cannot tell you that. About the same, I under- 

 stand. 



Mr. Lennon. The Navy, of course, puts up the lump sum ? 

 Mr. McKernan. Yes. 



Mr. Lennon. I do not know just what kind of legislation that this 

 committee could pass that would provide for the funding of the ICO 

 office. 



Certainly if this committee authorizes in its bill and the Appropria- 

 tions Committee appropriated it, then you would be in sort of a position 

 of an oversight conmiittee. 



I can see you feel this is the best that can be done, and you are 

 unwilling to substitute something else that might create more prob- 

 lems, but you are not enthusiastic about, at this point — maybe you have 

 been in the past — I do not want to misinterpret what you are saying 

 but I get the feeling that more could be done and more ought to be done 

 and if that is so, I want you to tell us how we can help you to do that. 

 Mr. McKernan. That is so. I do feel that more needs to be done 

 and that better coordination is required. 



Part of this is simply because of the maturity of the program. The 

 present coordinating mechanism was very successful and a huge step 

 forward. 



