IL) 
The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the Adminis- 
tration’s program there is no objection to the submission of this report. 
Sincerely yours, 
WILLIAM B. MACOMBER, Jr., 
Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations. 
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
Washington, Nov. 27, 1967. 
Hon. J. W. FULBRIGHT, 
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, 
U.S. Senate, 
Washington, D.C. 
DreaR Mr. CHARMAN: The Secretary has asked me to reply to your letter of 
October 3, 1967, in which you request the Department’s comments on S. Res. 172, 
submitted on September 29, 1967, by Senator Pell. I appreciate this opportunity 
to be of assistance to your committee. 
Under the resolution presented by Senator Pell, the Senate is asked to express 
its views on a number of current questions relating to the ocean, the ocean floor 
and their resources. These questions involve the ownership of the living and 
mineral resources of the ocean and ocean floor, conservation, arms control, the 
more precise definition of the continental shelf, and criminal jurisdiction beneath 
the high seas and on the deep sea floor. 
Senator Pell’s views are most useful and timely. He has identified many of 
the pertinent issues relating to the ocean floor which will have to be considered 
by the international community. The Department is already engaged in a careful 
study of these very issues. The General Assembly of the United Nations appears 
to be on the threshold of a long-term consideration of the ocean floor, its re- 
sources and the principles to be applied to activities there. The sense of urgency 
conveyed in Senator Pell’s resolution is fully justified. 
The relationship of arms control to future activities on the ocean floor is par- 
ticularly complex, and our present careful study of this relationship must be 
completed before we will be in a position to make proposals in the United Na- 
tions or elsewhere. 
We are now only at the beginning of the process of international consideration 
of questions involving the deep oceans. We appreciate, and are taking fully into 
account, Senator Pell’s suggestions. However, the Department cannot commit 
itself to making the particular proposals suggested or to the time schedule im- 
plicit in the Senator’s resolution. Accordingly, we recommend that action by the 
Senate on S. Res. 172 and other resolutions on the subject await a fuller devel- 
opment of the major issues facing the United States in this area as a conse- 
quence of studies within the United States and of future consideration by the 
international community. 
The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the Administra- 
tion’s program there is no objection to the submission of this report. 
Sincerely yours, 
WILLIAM B. Macomser, JR., 
Assistant Secretary for 
Congressional Relations. 
Senator SparkMan. I understand that Senator Pell wishes to open 
ite hearing by saying a few words about the resolutions sponsored 
y him. 
Senator Gorn. Mr. Chairman. 
Senator SpARKMAN. Senator Gore. 
APPEARANCE OF SECRETARY OF STATE IN PUBLIC SESSION 
Senator Gor. Before the hearing begins, I would like to submit a 
motion and ask that it be inscribed on the agenda of the committee 
tor action in executive session. 
Senator SpaRKMAN. May I say there will be an executive session 
tomorrow. 
