154 



Mr. Lennon. Thank you, Mr. Hanna. 



The gentleman from Washington. 



Mr. Pelly. Dr. Kirkbride, first let me commend you for upholding 

 free enterprise. It is refreshing in this city of bureaucracy to have some- 

 body come here and speak up for the concept which made this country 

 great and brought about the prosperity which we enjoy. 



Mr. Pelly. There is one matter that I cannot refrain from asking 

 you about and that is your suggestion for a redefinition of the Con- 

 tinental Shelf. I think the definition which is included in the Inter- 

 national Convention of 1958, was the one that you referred to, was it 

 not? 



Dr. Kirkbride. Yes. 



Mr. Pelly. It bothers me, and I know it bothers a lot of members, 

 that we might redefine the Continental Shelf in such a way as to abro- 

 gate some of our sovereignty in the area of 200 meters depth and be- 

 yond where we can exploit it. I myself, do not feel that it is fuzzy like 

 the State Department always tells me when they come back from talk- 

 ing with the United Nations. I think the definition is pretty clear, and 

 I do not know quite whether you as a supporter of free enterj^rise 

 favor turning over our Continental Shelf to underprivileged countries 

 for the international good or some such thing. It seems to me that we 

 had better stick fast by the definition we now have. 



Dr. Kirkbride. Well, in my statement what I was trying to convey 

 was that I did not think that we should allow the redefinition of the 

 Continental Shelf, which is one of the things the Commission did 

 recommend, to take precedence over the three things that I think are 

 the heart of the report. Whether you define the Continental Shelf of 

 today or 5 years hence, I don't think matters. 



Mr. Pelly. I hope it will be firming up the ownership of the Con- 

 tinental Shelf. 



Dr. Kirkbride. The thing I was trying to highlight is that there are 

 three important things that the Commission recommended and let's 

 not let the other things that they recommended confuse the issue. 



Mr. Pelly. I think we are going to need that kind of advice when 

 we really get into this with all the pressures one way and the other 

 and all the jealousies which will come to the surface. 



I, for one, appreciate your statement here today. I think it has 

 added a lot to the record. 



Dr. Kirkbride. Thank you. 



Mr. Lennon. The gentlemen from Alaska. 



Mr. Pelly. There is more Continental Shelf off of Alaska than any 

 other State. 



Mr. Pollock. We have 64 percent of it. 



Mr. Pelly. What is good for Alaska is good for the State of Wash- 

 ington. 



Mr. Pollock. That is what I hear. 



Sometimes my colleague and I diifer on fisheries rights for the State 

 of Alaska so that his statement is not as valid then as it is at the 

 moment. 



I might say that your statement is excellent. You evidently put in a 

 lot of hours, you or someone did, on your behalf. 



Dr. Kirkbride. I had a lot of help. 



