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H.R. 18914 calls upon the Council of Environmental. Quality to 
investigate and study all aspects of existing national policy with re- 
spect to the discharge of any material into the territorial waters of 
the United States, and to submit a report with recommendations for 
further action. 
This isa grey area, where a great deal of confusion exists. How much 
control and how great an extent does each nation have control over its 
territorial waters? A great deal would depend upon the cooperation of 
other nations. Present treaties and other international agreements in 
this sphere are totally inadequate. Most are directed to restricted 
areas, and to specific concerns, such as the taking of fish, the dumping 
of oil, and the like. What is needed is a firm national policy to be 
implemented in concert with other nations to insure the well-being, 
health, and continuance of the sea as a dependable resource, the source 
of food, and a clean, reliable fountain to supply the lands of the earth 
with lifegiving moisture, not a downpour of harmful elements anda 
body of water empty of the many delightful and useful forms of life. 
Mr. Chairman, I commend these two bill to your committee’s favor- 
able consideration. They are vital to the continuance of man on earth. 
Mr. Drncewi. I thank the gentleman from Florida for his very 
poignant remarks on the preservation of our Nation’s environment. 
Another very able Representative from Florida will now give us 
his statement. Congressman Bennett, the subcommittee will be happy 
to hear from you. 
STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. BENNETT, A REPRESENTATIVE 
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA 
Mr. Bennetr. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to make 
this statement to the committee, in support of H.R. 19256, requiring a 
study with respect to the discharging of material into oceans; and 
H.R. 19258, to prohibit the discharge of any military material into 
navigable waters or into international waters without certification. 
These two bills are companion measures to H.R. 18913 and H.R. 
18914, sponsored by Congressman Dante B. Fascell of Florida. I am 
pleased to join with Congressman Fascell as a cosponsor of these bills, 
and I hope the committee will report them favorably to the House of 
Representatives, or similar legislation to help protect our environment. 
The legislation proposed gives additional powers to the President’s 
Council on Environmental Quality to halt the disposal of materials 
which may damage the environment and ecological balance of naviga- 
ble waterways or oceans. 
As one of the original sponsors of legislation to establish a high 
level policy agency to protect the American environment for ourselves 
and future generations, it is my feeling we must do everything we can 
to insure that any waterway or ocean dumping is safe to human beings 
and fish and animal life. 
The Council on Environmental Quality is the vehicle to use in this 
respect, and the bills you are considering today will strengthen the 
Council’s responsibilities in this field. 
_The environmental explosion in America has brought wide atten- 
tion to the ways man is destroying and despoiling his air, water, and 
