140 



Mr. Morton. I think so. Maybe you should write a "Save Alaska 

 Bill." 



Mr. Pollock. I am concerned about this, also. 



Mr. Morton. You should be. 



Mr. Pollock. We are delighted to have you here. 



Mr. Morton. Thank you. 



Mr. Pollock. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Lennon. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Goodling. 



Mr. Goodling. Just a short observation, Mr. Chairman. 



I am certain it is a distinct asset to this committee to have the gentle- 

 man from Maryland on our team. 



As Mr. Downing said, he can add weight in more ways than one.. 



Mr. Lennon. The gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Jones. 



Mr. Jones. No questions. 



Mr. Lennon. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Frey ? 



Mr. Fret. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Are you trying to say that the weight of authority is on our side ?' 



Mr. Goodling. Maybe so. 



Mr. Fret. There is one other thing which came up in another com- 

 mittee and that is the complete problem of the environment in trying- 

 to tie down exactly what is the environment that we are talking about 

 and what would really have to be grouped together in order to prop- 

 erly look at this subject. When we are talking about the question of 

 pollution, someone brought out the question of population control 

 which at first may seem to be pretty far out, but the more I thought 

 about it the more it made sense that, really, in order to take a look at 

 our question of pollution, there are so many factors that go into this, 

 such as interface between the various sciences, that just a grouping of 

 what we have today I do not think would accomplish really the pur- 

 pose that we need. At most it would be a holding action. 



I think the situation where we are in a holding action is not suffi- 

 cient. It is going to have to be an active type of agency or an active 

 type of commission setting guidelines and leading the way rather than 

 just seeing where we are and collecting the problems. I take it this is 

 the thrust of your remarks. 



Mr. Morton. I think we have gotten a little off the subject. I agree 

 with you that we are going to have to take an active and an aggressive 

 type of management approach to environmental matters that are all 

 interrelated. The environment is everything. It is the court house lawn 

 and it is the ashbin behind the garage. It is the ocean. It is the air. It 

 is everything. But somewhere, somehow, we have to take a first step, 

 and do this in a constructive way. 



To conclude my remarks, I hope the committee will not get bogged 

 down in the concept of total environmental management and will 

 focus on the problems of oceanography and on the problems that are 

 related to the scope and jurisdiction of this committee; hopefully, in 

 doing a good job here in the field of oceanography and in the estab- 

 lishment of a new national policy for oceanographic activity, we would 

 then create at least one of the molecules of this vast program. We 

 could become over-awed by the problem and by the many interesting 

 aspects of it and fail to bring our microscope into full focus on this 

 one aspect. There is a legislative opportunity here to deal with this 

 aspect, and I would simply encourage the committee to come up with a 

 good bill and get the show started. 



