305 



and Federal dollars are cure-alls that we come to you to urge creation 

 of NOAA and its companion advisory group, N AGO. 



There is another suggestion I would like to deal with, that oceanog- 

 raphy somehow isn't relevant to conditions today — in the world, in the 

 cities or with major problems. 



I say oceanograpliy is as relevant as a hurricane hitting the coast 

 without adequate warning, as relevant as the need for protein in many 

 diets abroad and in this country, as relevant as polluted Lake Erie to 

 a youngster in Cleveland on a hot August day and as relevant as the 

 U.S. Navy is to the defense of this country. 



In addition, the social benefits that can be achieved through the ap- 

 plication of ocean science and technology to the problems of our cities 

 and to the development of the human resources in our coastal plains 

 has already been noted within the Government. During the past year, 

 the Economic Development Administration of the Department of Com- 

 merce has given considerable attention to the development of the ma- 

 rine environment and its resources as a means for achieving economic 

 growth in the coastal plains of the Carolinas and Georgia. 



The Office of Sea Grant Programs of the National Science Founda- 

 tion, although it concerns itself solely with higher education, is a first 

 step in the Government's support of education to achieve regional de- 

 velopment through oceanic and estuarine programs. Waterfront re- 

 newal and the provision of access for the urban underprivileged to the 

 marine environment for purposes of recreation are a goal of the open 

 space and urban renewal programs of the Department of Housing and 

 Urban Development. Some imaginative industry programs have begun 

 in these areas. Once more, this social mission for the application of 

 what we have learned in the last decade for the good of the citizen is 

 fragmented. To achieve maximum social responsiveness of the new 

 technology, a unified approach such as NOAA is required. 



I hope this subcommittee will report to the full committee soon, a 

 bill forming NOAA, and on the same bipartisan basis that has guided 

 you before. And that the Nixon administration will either endorse 

 that bill or move on its own to accomplish the same objective through 

 the Reorganization Act. 



The President is one who has spoken about the need to act. I quote 

 from his speech in Miami on October 30 last year, entitled, "The Sea — 

 Our Last Unexplored Frontier," when he referred to the "fragmented 

 and confused" national oceanographic effort and the need to consider a 

 sea agency. We continue to be optimistic that support from the ad- 

 ministration will be forthcoming. Together with the support manifest 

 here and elsewhere in Congress, I am encouraged that we can soon 

 begin to move into what some have already called the ocean decade. 



Li closing, I would like to submit for the record results of two Na- 

 tional Oceanography Association questionnaires. The first was taken 

 in mid-February at the time copies of the Commission report were 

 being distributed. Eighty-one percent of those responding supported 

 the independent agency concept and general support for other Com- 

 mission findings was voiced. The second questionnaire sent out last 

 month seeks opinion on the precise composition of NOAA and alterna- 

 tives to it. The returns on this second survey are not complete, but the 

 preliminary results through May 12 are shown and they also reveal 

 strong support for NOAA among industry, the academic community, 

 and the general public. 



