President has indicated repeatedly the overriding national need for 

 holding Federal spending in check to minimize inflationary pressures 

 from Government spending. Actions now pending before Congress 

 indicate similar Congressional concern for this national objective. 

 Some of the actions to reduce spending in oceanic and atmospheric 

 activities in the several agencies were taken with reluctance, in 

 recognition that there would be some adverse effects; others because 

 programs had been rendered ineflScient by the advent of replace- 

 ment technologies. I do not believe that any programs of overriding 

 national importance have been sacrificed. However, the concerns 

 of NACOA are noted, and those pinpointed will be reviewed to 

 determine whether some restoration should be made in fiscal year 

 1975 and beyond. 



The Committee's concern about the adequacy of the oceano- 

 graphic fleet to meet the national needs and its more general con- 

 cern about the adequacy of the capital structure for all marine and 

 atmospheric sciences warrants investigation. In the case of the 

 oceanographic fleet, it appears that the reduction will be less than 

 18 percent as contrasted with the 25 percent cited by the Com- 

 mittee. However, the capital structure problem is of sufficient im- 

 portance to warrant a special study, and I have asked the Chair- 

 man of the Federal Council for Science and Technology to under- 

 take this study through the appropriate interagency committees. 



NATURAL RESOURCES AND MARINE AFFAIRS 



The Committee's view is that the management of land, water and 

 atmospheric resources is so closely related that they should be or- 

 ganized into a single Federal agency at the departmental level. 

 The President's proposal for establishment of a new Department of 

 Energy and Natural Resources (DENR), which will achieve this 

 end, is now before Congress. The Committee's rationale coincides 

 with that of the President. 



The approval by the Congress of the President's proposal will, 

 among other eff"ects, bring about the loss of the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Department of 

 Commerce. I have grown to have a deep appreciation for oceanic 

 and atmospheric activities during my tenure as Secretary of Com- 

 merce. It is, therefore, with some sadness that I view the prospect. 

 However, I believe it is in the national interest that the President's 

 proposal be quickly endorsed by the Congress and that the DENR 



