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‘THE BENEFITS OF A NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC AGENCY 
Mr. Lennon. Do you not believe that a Government structure such 
‘as this would provide for a more coherent management and a higher 
quality of performance and have a tendency to attract even better per- 
‘sonnel perhaps than we have today, because it was a single Government 
agency responding to the President and to the Congress rather than 
being proliferated through so many agencies, so many departments, 
and so many bureaus as it 1s today ? 
Dr. Wenx. Well, as I said in my testimony, Mr. Lennon, I really 
believe that some consolidation along the lines proposed by the Com- 
mission would be clearly superior to the present organization, but on 
the premise that we agree on their goals. The Commission’s proposed 
goals in a sense symbolize an elevation of the priority for our attention 
to the ocean, and I think that is the key point. 
You know how I stand on this personally, Mr. Chairman. I believe 
that we need to raise that priority. But I have only one vote in this as 
one citizen. This, in a sense, has to be a national decision and I believe 
that we have waited a long time for that national decision, but I believe 
this is the way it has to be done. 
Incidentally, let me say from my own trips around the country that 
there is a great sympathy for marine research. Everywhere I go I find 
this encouragement but that has to be articulated in some fashion that 
becomes part of the political process. 
Simply encouraging support in the grass roots is not enough. I 
believe this committee—you have said yourself, Mr. Lennon, that you 
welcomed expressions of views from industry on this very point, and 
I believe that is the kind of indication the executive branch as well, 
needs in making its decisions. 
Just what do the people want ? 
ALTERNATIVES TO A NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC AGENCY 
Mr. Lennon. You refer to a decade of preparation in the sixties 
and a decade of realization in the seventies. Do you have an alternative 
to what is suggested by the Commission as to how we might more likely 
accomplish the decade of realization than what is recommended by 
the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources? 
Dr. Wenk. One of the alternatives, Mr. Chairman, would be to con- 
tinue with the present structure of Government and with the council. 
As I look ahead, I can see some new steps and new accomplishments 
possible under the existing structure. So this is one alternative. 
Mr. Lennon. Would you think a Government structure such as 
recommended by the Commission would improve decisionmaking in 
a central agency, or do you think you would get the decision just as 
well without any overlapping of the functions and roles and missions 
when they were proliferated among several agencies ? 
Dr. Wenx. Again, if we think of this only in the context of marine 
and atmospheric sciences, then I think you are likely to get a better 
decision by the kind of organization they propose. But this is not with- 
out some possible adverse effects. When one looks at, for example, 
questions of transportation, I think it is important to recognize that 
there needs to be a much closer relationship of the marine mode of 
