985 
The consideration implies the necessity for the importance of the 
availability of support to research and development entities other 
than the national laboratories. 
The national projects proposed by the Commission are interesting 
and might stimulate further progress. It must be recognized, however, 
that some of them are already underway in several forms and to vari- 
ous degrees and thus the selection of what to do next must take 
detailed account of the current status. This matter is incompletely 
treated in the Commission report. 
In addition, before proceeding, a careful reexamination of the costs 
to be expected for the various pr ojects should be undertaken since the 
Commission’s costing was admittedly crude, as it had to be consider- 
ing the dimensions of their task and the time and staff available. We 
should note that these recommendations as well as other Commission 
proposals are also being reviewed by the administration. 
As for the international legal-political framework for seabed 
resources, the DOD position, briefly, is the following: First, a narrow 
Continental Shelf regime coupled with a clear affirmation of the con- 
tinued freedom of the superjacent waters and airspacce beyond the. 
limit of the territorial sea would be the most compatible with our 
national security interests. 
The national security interests of the United States would be best 
served if the territorial seas and straits questions were settled before: 
any international agreement is reached on defining the outer limit of 
the Continental Shelf. 
As indicated previously the DOD attaches great importance to the 
settlement of the territorial sea question prior to submitting any initia- 
tive on the seabed problem. The main reason is because the limited 
jurisdiction of the coastal States, insofar as seabeds are concerned, 
might be extended unilaterally to include other rights if there is no 
firm prior international agreement on the extent of total sovereignty. 
In consonance with this quoted position, the DOD generally sup- 
ports the rationale contained in pages 141-157 of the Commission 
report and considers the detailed recommendations worthy of further 
study. 
However, no national decision should be made on such matters with- 
out full consideration of the vital national security interests which 
could be significantly affected by them. The important caveat repre- 
sented by the Commission’s qualifications on page 147 must be empha- 
sized, and I would like to quote it here: 
We also would like to stress that our major recommendations are interrelated. 
Rejection of any one of these recommendations would raise serious questions in 
the mind of the Commission as to the advisability of continuing with the others. 
Mr. Chairman, that completes my statement. I am now ready to try 
to answer any further questions the committee may have. 
Mr. Lernnon. Let us go off the record for a minute. 
(Discussion off the record.) 
Mr. Lennon. Back on the record. 
Thank you, Mr. Secretary. 
Go ahead, sir, General Koisch. 
