NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1965 



House of Representatives, 

 Subcommittee on Oceanography of the 

 Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 



Washington^ D.G. 



The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 1334, 

 Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Bob Casey presiding. 



Mr. Caset. The committee will come to order. 



Our colleague, William D. Hathaway of Maine is our first witness 

 this morning. 



STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM D. HATHAWAY, A REPRESENTA- 

 TIVE IN CONGRESS EROM THE STATE OP MAINE 



Mr. Hathaway. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, 

 though you are not at present considering H.R. 10106 which I recently 

 introduced into the House of Representatives, I feel that this bill has 

 special importance to this important matter of marine and atmospheric 

 affairs and I therefore wish to comment on it. 



There is a variety of bills before both Houses of Congress to enhance 

 and encourage the Federal role in the management of our marine 

 affairs. These bills encompass ideas for the improvement of our mer- 

 chant marine fleet, review of our interests in the law of the sea, explora- 

 tion of the Continental Shelf, enhancement of our anadromous fish- 

 eries management efforts, import restrictions on fisheries products from 

 those nations practicing poor conservation techniques in our adjacent 

 waters, advisory council proposals for the coordination of our ocean- 

 ographic effort, the establishment of a massive NASA-like organiza- 

 tion for the conquest of the oceans — our "inner space" — and many 

 others. 



In addition, President Johnson has now proposed Reorganization 

 Plan No. 2, consolidation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the 

 Weather Bureau, and the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory to 

 form a new agency in the Department of Commerce to be known as 

 the Environmental Science Services Administration. 



All of these ideas have merit and are rooted in the national concern 

 and future direction of our marine and atmospheric activities. They 

 are symptomatic of: (1) The recognition of the tremendous impor- 

 tance of the oceanic and atmospheric environs to our daily lives and 

 economy, and (2) the fragmentary attention we give these matters in 

 government policymaking and administration. 



H.R. 10106 is designed to crystallize our attention on the need to 

 coordinate our work in the interrelated areas of marine and atmos- 



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