12 



for the President. Issues and action alternatives are based on working^ 

 papers brought before the Council by the Council Secretariat. These 

 may be initiated in one of the member agencies, through outside studies, 

 or by Council staff. 



Advice and new ideas are also solicited from authorities in various 

 fields who serve as consultants, from the many varied groups of our 

 marine sciences community such as the National Academy of Sciences, 

 National Academy of Engineering, numerous professional groups, 

 and Governors and State planning officials. Assistance during the past 

 year has also been provided by the Interagency Committee on Ocean- 

 ography, which had been made available by the Chairman of its 

 parent, the Federal Council for Science and Technology. 



Where policy or program activities cross agency lines, and are of 

 continuing nature, it has been desirable to develop proposals for Coun- 

 cil action through a committee structure. These have been established 

 by the Vice President on a selected basis as the minimum necessary to- 

 achieve purposes of the Council. These committees concern — 



1. Marine research, education, and facilities ; 



2. International affairs; 



3. Exploration and environmental prediction services ; 



4. Multiple uses of the seashore ; and 



5. Food from the sea. 



The Council is also looking to the Commission as a source of advice 

 both from the entire body and from its individual members. 



To summarize, last summer this Nation embarked on a unification 

 of purpose to explore the last geographically unknown territory on 

 our planet. Although quite different from past exploration, this activ- 

 ity has goals, it anticipates the mobilization of ideas, capital, men, 

 and leadership for accomplishment of purposes as challenging as any 

 ancient expedition to the New World or future landing on the moon. 



We are endeavoring to understand the role of the oceans in our 

 national thinking, to find new maritime solutions to some of the old 

 pervasive problems of famine, of threats to world order, of problems 

 in a growing and increasingly urbanized population. 



The Federal Government's program can be regarded as the sum 

 of its parts. But with Presidential and Vice Presidential leadership to 

 develop goals and provide a new momentum to the overall effort, to 

 minimize effects of duplication, and especially to take advantage of 

 fresh ideals that may have in the past fallen in the gaps between 

 agencies, we are striving to make the total effort more than the pre- 

 vious sum of the parts. 



We are beginning to sharpen the tools for this purpose, to utilize 

 the advanced technology associated with a highly industrialized so- 

 ciety; to develop the manpower and mobilize resources for a com- 

 prehensive, ocean-based program ; to establish a framework of law that 

 will facilitate work on the Continental Shelf and in the deep oceans. 



To this end, we seek to expand knowledge of the marine environ- 

 ment and intensify development of its resources, by drawing together 

 as partners Government, industr3% and the academic community that 

 have proven such a strong, vibrant team in the development of this 

 Nation's present status as a world power. 



At the same time, we are earnestly considering how intensified 

 studies anduse of the sea may serve as bridges for cooperation and for 

 understanding among all nations. 



