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(c) An indication regarding practical means to promote inter- 
national co-operation in the exploration, conservation and use of 
the sea-bed and the ocean floor, and the sub-soil thereof, as con- 
templated in the title of the item, and of their resources, having 
regard to the views expressed and the suggestions put forward by 
Member States during the consideration of this item at the twenty- 
second session of the General Assembly; .... 
This Ad Hoc Committee, on which 35 nations are represented, has 
constituted two working groups. One deals with technical and economic 
matters, one with legal matters. The plenary Committee and the two 
working groups have held a number of meetings, but, as of this writing, 
their reports are not yet available. 
(2) U.S. Government 
The Congress of the United States has devoted several years of in- 
creasingly closer study to the requirements of a national effort to harness 
the resources of the sea to the benefit of the United States and mankind. 
The culmination of this Congressional activity came with the adoption 
of the Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966. 
The major significance of the Act lies in the creation of a cabinet- 
level body, called the National Council on Marine Resources and Engi- 
neering Development, charged with the responsibility, inter alia, of de- 
veloping a comprehensive program of marine science activities. Of 
equal, if not more, importance the Act called for the establishment by 
Presidential appointment of a Commission on Marine Science, Engi- 
neering and Resources which was to “make a comprehensive investiga- 
tion and study of all aspects of marine science in order to recommend 
an overall plan for an adequate national oceanographic program that 
will meet the present and future national needs.” The Commission is 
composed primarily of private citizens; only five of the fifteen members 
may be from the Federal Government. 
In addition to stimulating intensive activities within the many federal 
agencies involved in marine science affairs, an important effect of the 
creation of these two bodies has been both to provide a much sharper 
focus upon marine science affairs in the United States and to establish 
a means by which new ideas can be generated and important initiatives 
identified and set in motion. Thus far in its two annual reports the 
Council has devoted predominant attention to this latter task, in each 
instance selecting programs deserving priority and designating the lead 
