NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 599 



In conclusion, I would respectfully suggest that Congress take appropriate 

 action to accomplish the following : 



(a) Expand the present national oceanographic program so as to further en- 

 rich our increasing knowledge about the oceans. 



(&) Initiate action which will permit the starting of a number of ocean en- 

 gineering projects immediately. 



(o) Establish a study group to define cur national goals in the oceans and to 

 work out a well-conceived ocean strategy that will assure our continued pre- 

 eminence in this portion of the earth. 



(d) Establish an appropriate Government agency which will have a well- 

 defined mission in ocean engineering. 

 Respectfully yours, 



Pattl M. Fye. 



Ocean Resources, Inc., 

 La Jolla, Calif., August 18, 1965. 

 Hon. Alton Lennon, 



Chairman, Stibcommittee on Oceanography, House Committee on Merchant 

 Marine and Fisheries, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Congressman Lennon : Enclosed is a statement I prepared in support of 

 H.R. 6009, the Marine Exploration and Development Act. 



I support this bill wholeheartedly. It is a good and very necessary piece of 

 legislation. On the practical side, I believe its wording is sufficiently broad to 

 allow the Commission that this bill will establish the necessary latitude to ac- 

 complish the goals set forth. The only change I would suggest is on page 1, line 

 10, between the words. Shelf and under, might be added, "and the sea floor to 

 a depth which admits of economic mineral exploitation." The Geneva Conven- 

 tion also makes this statement. 



I am sorry that I was unable to tesitify in person before your subcommittee, 

 however, I would be happy to do so at any time in the future should you think 

 my testimony would be pertinent. Also I would be delighted to help you in any 

 other way by supplying information or other aid concerning the mineral resources 

 of the sea. There are several copies of the book, "The Mineral Resources of the 

 Sea," around Congress. Representative Bob Wilson of California has a copy as 

 do Senators Bartlett, Magnuson, and T. Kennedy. If you think it would be of 

 help to you or your subcommittee to have a copy, let me know and I will send one 

 on to you. 



Sincerely yours, 



John L. Mero, President. 



Statement of John L. Mero, President, Ocean Resources, Inc. 



My name is John L. Mero. I am president of Ocean Resources, Inc., of San 

 Diego, Calif. In rendering this statement, however, I am testifying in my per- 

 sonal capacity as an interested citizen. I have been asked to deliver this state- 

 ment as an exi)ert on the subject of the "Mineral Resources of the Sea." Such 

 expertise as I might possess on the subject arises from my experience of the past 

 15 years which I have spent almost totally engaged in marine mineral resource 

 studies as a student, postdoctoral fellow, research engineer at the University of 

 California, consultant to numerous large corporations and Government agencies, 

 and now as a manager of a company engaged in research and development of the 

 mineral resources of the sea. I have also authored a book entitled, "The Mineral 

 Resources of the Sea." 



mineral resources of the sea 



The benefits which the United States could derive by a major program of well- 

 coordinated oceanographic research already have been discussed in considerable 

 detail by many other persons. Consequently, I will limit my comments in this 

 statement to the mineral resources of the sea. While it is a well-known fact 

 that the sea can serve as a source of all mankind's protein requirements, it is a 

 much less known fact that the sea can also provide the earth's population with 

 its total consumption of many industrially important mineral commodities. 

 What is even more remarkable is the observation that the sea can provide these 

 mineral commodities at a cost of human labor and resources that is a fraction 

 of that required to win these materials from land sources. 



