NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 493 
OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20506 
July 26, 1963 
Dear Mr. Speaker: 
Recognizing the strong interest by the Congress in advancing 
this Nation's program in oceancgraphy, I am pleased to forward 
@ new report of the Federal Council for Science and Technology 
that provides a broad and long-range perspective for the 
development of an effective and expanding scientific study 
of the sea. 
The report - "Oceanography: The Ten Years Ahead" - embodies 
for the first time the coordinated plans for the decads 
1963-1972 of the 20 Federal agencies which condust and sponsor 
oceanographic research, included are a statements of research 
objectives, and projections of the funds, facilities and man- 
power needed for their accomplishment. This plan thus reflects 
this Administration's dedication to a comprehensive program - 
to understand the world ocean, its boundaries, its properties, 
and its processes - and to exploit this understanding in the 
public interest for enhancement of our national defense; for 
improved protection and development of marine mineral and 
fisheries resources; for pollution control; for more accurate - 
prediction of storms and tides likely to endanger property 
or lives; and for extending ssientific knowledge generally. 
I should like also to call attention to the Government-wide 
sharacter of this program, by which responsibility for the 
achievement of these various national goals is reflected in 
existing statutory authority vested in a number of separate 
agencies. Through the Council's Interagency Committee on 
Oceanography that prepared this report, activities of some 20 
agencies are planned ahead and planned together. Coordination 
is thus instituted to minimize gaps and unwiting duplication; 
to assure adequate depth, breadth and selected emphasis between 
different sectors of the program, to permit sharing of ships 
and research facilities, to foster cooperative training of 
oceanographic scientists; and to enhance communication between 
Government and the non-Government scientists who jointly share 
the responsibilities for the conduct of this important program. 
