984 
ommended by the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and 
Resources. 
Mr. Scuapeperc. Mr. Chairman, would the gentleman yield there? 
Mr. Lennon. Yes. 
Mr. Scuaprsperc. Can you say why you feel that it couldn’t be? 
Dr. Froscu. I am not saying that it couldn’t be. What we are saying 
is that there really is a problem, and the problem is that we are tak- 
ing a designated armed force which has military command lines which 
are adaptable to its become a fighting force in time of war and there 
is a not very precisely defined suggestion in the commission report that 
it be combined with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, which is a uni- 
formed force but not a military force and with the Bureau of Com- 
mercial Fisheries fleet, which is a civilian force. 
One would have to be rather careful to see that the arrangements of 
line of command and the arrangements for training, for military train- 
ing, and so on, the Coast Guard were maintained in this combination. 
For example, if the way of combination were to make all three of 
the groups uniformed but not military or civilian, then there might be 
a problem. 
It is a question of how the combining operation is to be carried out 
and what the final combination looks like. It could certainly be done, 
but that would have to be done carefully. 
Mr. Scuapesere. That is the point I want to make. It doesn’t say 
that it can’t, but that problems probably exist now and will exist no 
matter what is done. 
Certainly the Navy would be interested in having them serve in 
time of war. It would have an eye on the Coast Guard in the new 
agency and be alert to the fact that it wasn’t being taken care of. I am 
sure that the various interested committees in Congress certainly 
wouldn’t want that to happen either. 
Dr. Froscu. I merely point it up as a problem that would have to: 
be watched. 
Mr. Lennon. Counsel for the committee is a former Coast Guard 
officer and a distinguished professor of law. He has asked me to ask 
you a simple question: Can the Coast Guard be any busier in the 
future than it is now ? 
Dr. Froscu. It would be hard for that to happen I think. They are 
certainly very busy now. 
Mr. Lennon. It has about as many roles and missions for a rela- 
tively, comparatively small agency, and is busy all the time. 
Dr. Froscu. There is no question about that. 
Mr. Lennon. Go ahead, sir. 
Dr. Froscu. The requirement to so maintain the Coast Guard as 
provided by 14 U.S.C. 2 for transfer to the Department of Defense 
as provided by 14 U.S.C. 3 is mandatory. 
Returning to the commission report, 1t proposes a Nationa] Lab- 
oratory System and National Projects with the objective of forming 
a comprehensive set of organizations and programs which could 
serve to stimulate the whole field. 
Establishment of the university/national laboratories, however, 
should not be used to prevent or to make impossible forever the entry 
of major new organizations into the field, since the formation of new 
groups is frequently a powerful stimulus to progress. 
