34 



Does he know what you are doing, the amount of work that has 

 been involved, or do you have to go through staff? 



Mr. Richardson. The answer, Congressman Winn, is that, no, I 

 don't have the ear of the President. 



I haven't sought it either, up to now. It seemed to me, for the 

 reasons that the review was legitimate, it was legitimate that it be 

 undertaken in the ordinary course by the representatives of all the 

 departments and agencies concerned, whoever they might be, and 

 that if I or anyone else concerned with the treaty were to go to the 

 President of the United States, at the beginning of such a review, 

 the answer we would inevitably get would be that no, the issues 

 have not been prejudged, that the review is being undertaken even- 

 handedly, and that certainly there would be the opportunity for us 

 to be heard at a later date, and so on, and so on. 



I am, however, concerned now that the tactical questions of 

 judgment affecting the timing of the U.S. presentation of amend- 

 ments be brought to a level in the Government where this can be 

 looked at in a broader perspective, than I think the rather labori- 

 ous process that is now underway would permit, and I would think 

 the question of how best to do that, through what channels and the 

 like, is a question that certainly concerns me and others who have 

 been deeply involved in these negotiations. 



Mr. Winn. Do you think that there are too many agencies in- 

 volved in the work that is being done at the present time, the 

 study, recommendations? Is it unwieldy? 



Mr. Richardson. It is to a degree, and in the sense that the 

 whole U.S. delegation has to some extent been unwieldy, but there 

 is no way of excluding representation of departments and agencies 

 who do have genuine interests. 



The Department of Defense is represented for obvious reasons. 

 The Department of Transportation, largely because of the responsi- 

 bilities of the Coast Guard; Department of Commerce, which in- 

 cludes the Maritime Administration as well as the National Ocean- 

 ographic and Atmospheric Administration; and the Department of 

 Energy, given the enormous oil and gas reserves of the continental 

 margin, as well as the potential for energy development through 

 such devices as ocean thermal energy conversion; the Environmen- 

 tal Protection Administration, and so on down the list of those who 

 have been represented in this process from the very beginning. 



I chaired in 1969 and 1970 the Under Secretary's Committee of 

 the National Security Council, and in 1970 we had an enormous 

 number of members at every meeting, because of all the interests 

 that were engaged and they have been represented ever since. 



Mr. Winn. Thank you. 



Well, listing all those agencies, I don't think that was a very 

 smart question of me to ask you, because I could have answered 

 that myself. 



Is there anything the members of this committee can do or the 

 Members of Congress can do to help you in your efforts? 



Mr. Richardson. Well, I don't want to create the impression in 

 the first instance, Congressman Winn, that I am carrying on a 

 battle inconsisent with the interests or objectives of the administra- 

 tion, or the United States generally. 



