known 10 years before : nuclear power, LORAN, International Geo- 

 physical Year research in the Antarctic, to name only a few. 



During all the years from 1790 Coast Guard authority and policy 

 had been a piecemeal affair as one and another and then another func- 

 tion was added to its activities. (For example, the vital Ocean Sta- 

 tion Vessel program is operated by the Coast Guard, but financed 

 by the Defense Department ; this splits administration and authority.) 

 In the field of Merchant Marine Safety alone, multiple responsibili- 

 ties and overlapping jurisdictions currently force the Coast Guard to 

 maintain active liaison with 23 agencies in 8 U.S. Govermnent depart- 

 ments, and with 46 non-Government agencies and advisory bodies. 



This loosely-knit fabric of responsibility and authority had never 

 been codified as a cohesive body of law, which made long-range 

 planning and programing difficult, to say the least. 



In 1949, Congress enacted Title 14 of the U.S. Code, which for the 

 first time in history specified tlie Coast Guard's ". . . responsibilities, 

 functions, and spheres of activity." This welcome document, how- 

 ever, simply spelled out Coast Guard responsibility and authority. 

 It told the Sei-vice what it had to do but left all details of operation, 

 programing, and funding to be worked out by the Coast Guard and 

 its multitude of cooperating agencies. 



