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carried on by armed forces. However, the problem is even broader 
than this. Some 48 million tons of everything from mustard gas to 
TNT, from sulfuric acid to municipal sewage, is dumped into the 
ocean from various sources in the United States. 
My colleague, Dante Fascell, is the principal sponsor of two bills 
which I had the honor of cosponsoring. H.R. 18913 would prohibit 
dumping of military material into any navigable waters without ap- 
proval by the Council on Environmental Quality. This bill should be 
passed as quickly as possible. With the tremendous increase in the 
noxious military materials which can be dumped, we can no longer 
assume that indiscriminate disposal of this waste will have only a 
nominal effect on ocean life. 
The second bill, H.R. 18914, takes a broader view. By requiring 
the Council on Environmental Quality to make a complete investiga- 
tion of a national policy for the discharge of waste material into the 
ocean, the bill points up the disturbing fact that there is now no such 
national policy. 
The other bills which you are considering also have a great deal of 
merit. Taken as a package, they would make great strides toward de- 
veloping a consistent and tough approach toward disposal of waste 
into our waterways and oceans. 
Tt is not too strong to say that we are dealing with matters of life 
and death. As a nation, we must move quickly to save our waterways 
and oceans for, in the final analysis, we will be acting to save ourselves. 
Mr. Dineritu. We appreciate your statement, Congressman. 
Another of our colleagues from New York, the Honorable Howard 
W. Robison, will present his statement at this time. 
STATEMENT OF HON. HOWARD W. ROBISON, A REPRESENTATIVE 
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
Mr. Rostson. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to present my 
views on the disposal of weapons to the Subcommittee on Fisheries 
and Wildlife of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. 
My position, as I shall outline below, is that I favor the basic thrust 
of H.R. 18913 and similar legislation aimed at preventing the pollu- 
tion and further degradation of the world’s waters. I think that all 
too often we have assumed that our lakes, rivers, bays, and oceans can 
absorb all of the refuse that we choose to dump in them without any 
permanent damage being sustained. Recent experience has shown that 
premise to be totally erroneous. 
In the case of our military weapons—munitions, gases, chemicals, 
and so forth—the disposal in the oceans has come more often than not 
from the lack of convenient alternate plans for disposal. In the name 
of “protecting the population from imminent harm,” the military has 
chosen to dump its old, dangerous, or obsolete weapons in the sea, 
thereby endangering the habitat of those creatures who are in the vi- 
cinity of the dumping site. I would submit that these “emergency” 
situations are created by a monumental lack of foresight by certain 
military officials charged with responsibility in this area. Unfortu- 
nately, even recent events have yet to impress on the Department of 
