Reception 



The future of the NOAA proposal and the other recom- 

 mendations of the report depend on the reception they receive 

 from the President, Congress, the affected departments and 

 agencies, and the scientific and technical community. The pro- 

 posed expenditure, which is about one-third of the sum spent 

 during the 1960's on the Apollo manned lunar landing program, 

 comes at a time the Congress is trying to pare the national bud- 

 get, not expand it. The Commission noted that the question of 

 priorities was not within their charter and did not discuss the 

 marine exploration programs in relation to other federal en- 

 deavors. They also did not rank their various marine proposals. 

 Unless the Congress is willing to accept the "package" or re- 

 jects it out of hand, these difficult issues will have to be faced. 



In anticipation of the report's recommendation for NOAA 

 and of adverse reaction. Representative Charles A. Mosher (R- 

 Ohio), one of the congressional advisers for the Commission, 

 consulted with President-elect Nixon. In December, the Presi- 

 dent-elect released a letter to Dr. Edward Wenk, Jr., executive 

 secretary of the Marine Council, in which he said that his 

 administration would give a high priority to an "integrated 

 program" in oceanography. After delivering the Commission 

 report to Nixon forces in early January, Rep. Mosher stated 

 that he believes that the President puts a "very high priority 

 on the need for a vigorous program" in the oceans. 



The attempt to construct NOAA with parts of existing de- 

 partments may meet tremendous resistance from federal bureau- 

 crats. Three Departments — Transportation, Interior, and 

 Commerce — are directly affected and may not willingly give 

 up sections of their domain of responsibility. Insight into what 

 may be in store might be provided from a New York Times 

 article on October 27, 1968, which observed that the Interior 

 Department was beginning interlocking its various marine re- 

 sources activities in an apparent attempt to defend its steward- 

 ship of U. S. ocean riches when the issue comes before Congress. 

 Responsibility for coordination of the department's programs 

 was placed with an Assistant Secretary and a new office of 

 marine resources was created. 



Congressional committee structure may result in two prob- 

 lems. Some of the bureaucracies have close ties with their 

 authorization committees in Congress. When shifts begin to 

 deprive some of these congressmen of some jurisdictional 

 authority, they may resist. The other problem concerns future 

 committee arrangements. The report states that NOAA can be 

 successful only if adjustments are made and urges that a single 

 legislative and appropriations committee in each house have 

 sole responsibility. It noted that ESSA has had to report to 

 three separate House legislative committees which complicated 

 development of a balanced program. Since such regrouping 



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