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federal agency for implementation. The Report of the Commission is 
formally due in January 1969, and is expected to be available late in 
1968. 
Among the most important results thus far of the Council’s work is 
the concept of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) 
which was initially proposed by President Johnson in March 1968. A 
White Paper on the Decade issued by the Council in May offers the 
following elaboration: 
The Decade is envisioned as a period of intensified collaborative 
planning, development of national capabilities, and execution of 
national and international programs of oceanic research and re- 
source exploration. Knowledge of the ocean and its resources is 
exceedingly limited. Because of the very size, complexity and var- 
iability of the marine environment, scientific investigations of vast 
scope will be necessary if knowledge of this environment is to in- 
crease within a reasonably short interval. At the same time excel- 
lence, experience, and capabilities in marine science and technology 
are shared by many nations. Hence, a broad program of ocean 
exploration can be carried out only through a cooperative effort by 
many nations. The success of such an endeavor will depend in 
large measure on the extent to which various nations contribute 
their particular expertise and capabilities, assume a share of re- 
sponsibility for the program, develop their manpower and facilities, 
and disseminate to others the results of scientific discoveries. 
(3) Bar Association and other groups 
Paralleling this greatly intensified governmental activity are numerous 
private groups whose activities include technical, economic and legal 
consideration of marine resources. Among these are the Committee on 
Oceanography of the Section of International and Comparative Law of 
the American Bar Association, the Committee on Marine Resources of 
the Section of Natural Resources Law, and the Standing Committee on 
Peace and Law through United Nations, of that Association, and the 
National Petroleum Council’s Committee on Petroleum Resources under 
the Ocean Floor. Each of these has published, or circulated, drafts of 
important reports. 
(4) Questions Discussed 
These various events on the international level, and within the United 
States and in governmental and private bodies within other countries, 
