Calendar No. 1588
86TH CONGRESS \ SENATE | REpor?T
2d Session No. 1525
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
INSTITUTION ARCHIVES
JuNE 7, 1960.—Ordered to be printed WH.O.I. DATA LIBRARY
WOODS HOLE. MA. 02543
Mr. Maenuson, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign
Commerce, submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 2692]
The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom
was referred the bill (S. 2692) to advance the marine sciences, establish
a 10-year program of oceanographic research and surveys, promote
commerce and navigation, secure the national defense, expand ocean
) resources, authorize the construction of research and survey ships and
facilities, assure systematic studies of effects of radioactive materials
i Marine environments, enhance the general welfare and for other
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, with
amendments, and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
INTRODUCTION
5. 2692 is designed to meet a pressing need.
That need is to unveil the secrets of inner space—the oceans.
Oceans cover 72 percent of earth’s surface, an area nine times
ereater than that of the moon.
Their water volume is eight times that of the land above them.
The world’s greatest mountain ranges and deepest canyons lie
hidden in the oceans.
They control, in large measure, our weather and climate. They
are a distinctive feature of our planet and it may be no other planet
in the solar system has them.
They are the vast repository for wastes and sediments, organic
and inorganic, of a billion years, and hold untold wealth in minerals
and fossil fuels.
They are the last open range from which we will be able to amplify
future protein food supplies.
Oceans no longer isolate nations but link them. The United
States has ties, economic or military or both, with 58 other nations
of the free world, physically separated from us only by the oceans,
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2 MARINE SCIENCES AND: RESEARCH ACT
which carry 99.8 percent of the exchange of raw materials and.
finished products.
And the oceans are neutral.
An airplane flying 12 miles above the land surface of a foreign
country creates an international sensation and the foreign nation
responds to this distant overflight with raucous accusations of
spying and aggression, the later, of course, obviously absurd.
But any unfriendly country can spy on us from only 3 miles off
our ocean beaches. Submarines or nosey fishing vessels of a foreign
power can cruise with impunity up to the 3-mile limit of the territorial
seas. Beyond that invisible boundary the waters of the oceans are
‘international. ‘This, in time of peace, is as it should be.
~Trade,-commerce, and in a large measure the economy of free
‘nations, are dependent on keeping the oceans open.
’ “Oceans are now and will continue to be the highways for most of
the world’s international commerce. In 1959, free world exports
totaled $102 billion; free world imports $105.8 billion. More than
one-sixth of this commerce was to or from the United States, the
world’s greatest market and the preeminent supplier of foreign
markets.
Freedom of the oceans is important to our economy and security,
and the key to the free world alliance. To hold that key it is
imperative that we know the oceans.
In the past that knowledge was two dimensional. It sufficed to
know the winds, waves, and currents at the surface, fisheries resources
near the surface, and the reefs and shoals imperiling surface ships.
Even within these limited requirements our knowledge frequently
has been and is inadequate.
Today knowledge of the oceans must be three dimensional, ex-
tending from the surface to the bottom, and to the crust below the
bottom. Why?
Mr. Sumner Pike, former Commissioner of the Atomic Energy
Commission, and a member of the Committee on Oceanography of the
National Academy of Sciences, touched on the reason in his testimony
at hearings on the bill before this committee. He said:
* * * it has become suddenly apparent that the ocean is
of the highest importance to national defense, indeed to our
survival. It seems unnecessary to emphasize here the
possible results of the development of nuclear submarines
and guided missiles. My own personal reaction can be
phrased briefly: Another nation caught us _ practically
unawares upstairs; for heaven’s sake don’t let the same
thing happen to us down cellar.
With this problem thrust upon us, we become unhappily
aware of the abysmal extent of our ignorance of the ocean
in areas where knowlege both wide and accurate seems
essential.
To acquire this knowledge which appears so necessary requires
marine research much more extensive than any this Nation has
undertaken in the past or is undertaking now.
Soviet Russia, which has more submarines than all the nations of
the free world combined, is conducting an unprecedented ocean re-
search program, one that, in fact, surpasses that of the entire free
world.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 3
The Soviet oceanographic fleet, in numbers of ships, size, tonnage,
diversity, and laboratory facilities, exceeds that of the Western nations.
Her marine scientists far outnumber those of the United States, and
Russia has launched a vast program to train more.
The United States has Jagged in this vital scientific field, a lag
that if continued could be enormously costly in time of peace; fatal
in the event of war.
This lag was recognized in Senate Resolution 136, adopted by the
Senate of the United States on July 15, 1959. It was the sense and
purport of this resolution that the lag in our Nation’s oceanographic
research be overcome.
S. 2692 is the legislative approach to doing just that.
PuRPOSE OF THE BILL
The primary purpose of the bill is to enhance the national economy,
security, and welfare by increasing our knowledge of the oceans and
the Great Lakes in all pertinent scientific fields. These include
physics, biology, chemistry, meteorology and geology.
To speed this objective, the bill is designed to approximately
double, within the next 10 years, the capabilities of the United States
to conduct a balanced, comprehensive program of marine research
and surveys.
Our capabilities in this program are dependent in large measure on—
1. A national policy of continuous and constructive scientific
studies of the waters which form 13,428 miles of our 19,793-mile
national boundary.
2. Education and training of additional marine scientists in
numbers adequate to make these important studies.
3. Construction and operation of new and advanced research
ships for scientists to work on, laboratories to work in, and tools,
instruments, and equipment to work with.
4. Coordination of oceanographic and limnological. activities
of the various Federal departments and agencies participating in
the program.
5. International and interdepartmental exchange of oceano-
eraphic data.
The bill, in the interest of maximum economy and efficiency, would
meet these requirements by advancing the program in realistically
progressive stages over a period of years. In this way the crash
characteristics of the more extensive Soviet oceanographic effort will
be avoided.
Neep For tHe Bitu
The need for a program of expanded marine research has been
evident to scientists and scientific units of a number of Government
agencies for the past 6 years, and was manifest when these agencies
found it necessary or expedient in advance of several international
conferences to call on the National Academy of Sciences for oceano-
graphic information the agencies did not possess.
Examples of Federal dependence on the Academy, which is not a
Government agency, were the Inter-American Conferences on Conser-
vation of the Resources of the Continental Shelf and Marine Waters,
held at Mexico City, Mexico, in July 1955, and at Ciudad Trujillo,
Dominican Republic, in March 1956, and the International Conference
LOAN NUA EOL
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4 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
on Law of the Sea, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in March and April
1958, and relating particularly to pollution of offshore waters.
Attesting further to this need are three reports, two of them pre-
pared by the National Academy at the request of Government agen-
cies and the third prepared within the Defense Establishment by the
Office of Naval Research and subsequently approved by the Chief of
Naval Operations.
All three reports point to a drastic need for new ships, new facilities,
more marine scientists, and greatly augmented oceanographic research
and surveys.
S. 2692 gives legislative recognition to findings and conclusions
contained in two of these reports and substantially confirmed with
respect to four agencies by the third report, which was issued sub-
sequent to introduction of the bill.
GENESIS OF THE THREE REPORTS
In 1957, several Government agencies, convinced of the need for an
integrated oceanographic program, and aware that to achieve this
would require an overall study conducted by an independent and
completely objective scientific group, proposed that the National
Academy of Sciences create a Committee on Oceanography to under-
take this major project. This was done.
Formal support, financial and otherwise, was given to the under-
taking by the following agencies:
Atomic Energy Commission.
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.
National Science Foundation.
Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy.
Subsequently the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the Department of
Commerce, also participated in the sponsorship.
Dr. Harrison Brown, professor of geochemistry at the California
Institute of Technology and formerly with Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, and University of Chicago, was appointed Chairman.
Eminent marine scientists from seven universities and oceanographic
institutions affiliated with universities were named to the Com-
mittee. New England, the Mid- and South Atlantic States, the Mid-
west and Pacific coast were each represented. A former Commissioner
of Atomic Energy, Mr. Sumner Pike, of Lubec, Maine, also was
appointed to the Committee.
All of the members of the Committee are civilians. None are
employed by the Government. None were selected for membership
on the Committee by any Government agency. The Committee and
each of its members possessed complete freedom to make a com-
prehensive study and report.
Committee members are:
Dr. Maurice Ewing, Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia
University, Palisades, N.Y.; Dr. Columbus O’D. Iselin, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.; Dr. Fritz Koczy,
Marine Laboratory of the University of Miami, Miami, Fla.; Dr.
Roger Revelle, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif.;
Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.; Dr.
Gordon Riley, Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory, Yale University,
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 5
New Haven, Conn.; Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, Minn.; Dr. Per Scholander, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography; Mr. Sumner Pike, and Dr. Milner B. Schaefer, Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission, La Jolla, Calif.
Each of the members has attained scientific distinction as a physicist,
marine biologist, meteorologist or marine chemist.
Drs. Brown, Spilhaus, Iselin, Koczy, Riley, Ray, and Schaefer of
the Committee testified before the Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Committee at hearings on the bill held April 20, 21, and 22 of this
year. Drs. Ewing and Revelle submitted prepared statements.
Testimony also was given by Dr. Allyn C. Vine, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution and Chairman of the Committee on Ocean-
ography’s Panel on Engineering Needs for Ocean Exploration; Dr.
Dayton E. Carritt, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.,
representing the Committee’s Panel on Radioactivity in the Oceans;
Dr. J. Lamar Worzel, Columbia University authority on underwater
sound transmission, earthquake seismology, ocean gravities, and
submarine topography, and Mr. Pike.
The Committee on Oceanography held its first meeting in November
1957. During the following year it visited major oceanographic
institutions in all sections of the United States, conferred with scien-
tists and officials of all Government agencies having an interest in the
oceans or the Great Lakes, and appointed eight panels of scientists to
assist it in special studies. More than 60 scientists from private
institutions and laboratories participated in these panels.
In January 1959 the Committee on Oceanography released its
summary report and recommendations. It has since issued eight
more reports detailing studies made in separate fields.
These reports have been the subject of an intensive study by the
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and inspired Com-
mittee action on the program embodied in this bill.
Two conclusions of the Committee on Oceanography merit quota-
tion at this point. They are:
1. From the point of view of military operations there is
no comparison between the urgencies of the problems of the
oceans and those of outer space. The submarine armed
with long-range missiles is probably the most potent weapon
system threatening our security today.
2. Our oceanographic research ships are inadequate for
the job which must be done. Most of the ships are old and
outdated. Many are obsolete and should be replaced by
ships of modern design which will be more efficient to operate
and from which a greater variety of scientific observations
can be made.
Simultaneously with the study of overall marine scientific needs
by the Committee on Oceanography, the Navy Department’s Office
of Naval Research prepared a survey and projection of the marine
research needs and programs financed by the Navy in universities
and oceanographic laboratories or institutions affiliated with uni-
versities.
6 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
Institutions with which the Navy has contracted for such research
include:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
University of Miami.
University of Washington.
Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College.
Lamont Geological Observatory of Columbia University.
Hudson Laboratory of Columbia University.
Chesapeake Bay Institute.
Narragansett Marine Laboratory.
Oregon State College.
New York University.
The Navy report, designated Project TENOC (10 years in oceanog-
raphy), was issued on January 1, 1959, with the endorsement of
Adm. Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations. The report noted
that the total budget for marine research financed by the Navy in
institutions during fiscal year 1959 was $7,600,000, and projected a
eraduated increase in funds for research ships, laboratories, and
scientific personnel for these institutions over the subsequent 10 years.
Eighteen new ships were recommended, of which 4 would be
large 2,000- to 3,000-ton vessels, 10 of approximately 1,200 to 1,400
tons, and the others small coastal boats. Delivery of one ship was
sought in 1960, four in 1961, and four in 1962. One of the smallest
ships recommended, an 80-foot boat, is now being built for Oregon
State College. Contract was let last week for the first 1,350-ton ship
which will require 18 to 24 months to complete.
Ten new laboratory buildings and two new piers also were proposed
in the report. Construction has not begun on any of these although
Navy scientists consider additional laboratory space one of the most
pressing needs.
With reference to the ship construction program the report states:
This program is considered to be necessary to provide
research needed to develop the ASW (antisubmarine war-
fare) capability required to combat the submarine menace.
The program is expensive, but when it is considered that
there has been no effort to improve research ships in this
country for the last 15 years, and that we are proposing a
10-year building program, it becomes obvious that we have
25 years of shipbuilding to accomplish in 10 years.
In a further paragraph indicating the magnitude of the task ahead,
the report states:
Since the oceans are the Navy’s primary domain and since
the Navy must move ships about, on, and in the oceans, and
aircraft in the air above the oceans; it goes without saying
that a complete understanding of the environment, includ-
ing the ocean surface, the ocean bottom and the atmosphere
above, must be obtained if the Navy is to compete success-
fully in a modern war. By understanding the environment
we mean that the current systems in the ocean must be known
from the surface to the bottom, the bottom topography must
be known in detail, the temperature structure from day to
day must be predicted, gravity and magnetic conditions
must be known, sea and swell forecasting must be efficient,
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 7
the formation and breakup of arctic ice must be predicted,
weather conditions must be predicted, beach conditions and
the land areas around these seas must be known. Further,
the Navy must understand this environment in the Medi-
terranean Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea,
Red Sea, and the Arctic Ocean. Our present understanding
of these strategic areas is limited. In addition to these
strategic areas, the Navy must have adequate knowledge of
the broad reaches of the Atlantic and Pacific.
Admiral Burke, in commending the report, added this significant
comment:
The numbers of oceanographers presently available in the
United States are insufficient to meet the increasing military
and civilian demands for their services.
Sections 13 and 14 of S. 2692, adopting the proposals of the TENOC
report, is designed also to meet, through scholarships, the educational
and training needs.
Admiral Burke supplemented this comment on June 16, 1959, with
a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign
Commerce, in which he stated in part:
The interest of the Congress in this vital area is timely
since legislative assistance will be required if all the recom-
mendations of the Harrison Brown Committee are to be
implemented for a sustained 10-year effort.
Further, with reference to education and training of marine scien-
tists and the Navy’s participation in this program, present and pro-
jected, the Chief of Naval Operations stated:
The expansion of curriculum and enrollment at each of
these institutions represents a major capital venture that
can quickly become a serious fiscal loss to these research
centers if Federal support vacillates from year to year.
The above quotations are pertinent in the light of comments on the
bill received from some of the agencies which would participate in the
program authorized.
The Department of Commerce was not an original sponsor of the
study made by the Committee on Oceanography of the National
Academy of Sciences. Nor were any of its agencies or bureaus.
However, the Secretary of Commerce, Hon. Sinclair Weeks, in
1958 requested tlat the Academy appoint a committee to undertake
an evaluation of the Department’s activities and responsibilities in the
fields of science and technology.
Contracts were entered into and a committee of scientists and engi-
neers appointed. The contracts were continued under Secretary
Strauss and the present Secretary, Frederick H. Mueller.
The Academy Committee made its report on March 2 of this year.
Four of the seven agencies studied are designated in S. 2692 as
having a significant role in the projected 10-year oceanographic
program. They are:
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Maritime Administration.
Weather Bureau.
National Bureau of Standards.
8 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
The bill would authorize appropriations for specified purposes to
the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Maritime Administration, and the
Weather Bureau and proposes cooperation with and by the Bureau of
Standards.
The Academy Committee reported separately on each agency, com-
mencing with the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Commenting on the importance of this agency, the report states:
The nautical charts and allied publications supplied by
the Survey enable waterborne commerce, estimated in excess
of $100 billion annually, to enter and depart from our coastal
waters with complete confidence and assurance. * * * The
Coast and Geodetic Survey, during its 152 years of service,
has made splendid contributions to knowledge and to the
progress of our Nation and the world. It cannot exist on
past accomplishments, but must steadily move forward in
the fields of science and engineering essential to its activities.
Because of the fundamental nature of its activities, the Sur-
vey must continue to play an important role in the destiny
of the Nation and of the world.
Then follows a critical analysis of the present capabilities of the
Survey to fulfill its responsibilities. Excerpts:
As a result of financial and staff limitations, the Survey,
since World War IJ, has been forced into a production orien-
tation. Its research and development activities have been
severely neglected, with the danger of losses in its broad
effectiveness to the Nation and in its stature as a dynamie
scientific and engineering institution.
In interviews with key officer and civilian personnel and
in the review of written material relating to Survey opera-
tions, a major concern was noted in all divisions about the
inadequacy of data collection facilities. As an example, the
Geophysics Division maintains eight geomagnetic observa-
tories and a number of seismograph stations for the contin-
uous recording of magnetic field fluctuations and of earth-
quakes. This chain of observatories is undoubtedly too
sparse for providing data of sufficient accuracy on magnetic
and seismic conditions throughout the world, and is less
dense than that of other technologically advanced nations.
(The Soviet Union has 22 magnetic stations.)
Appendix IV presents a sad picture of the condition of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet. Again, the personnel of
the Survey have done a remarkable job in keeping outdated
equipment operating effectively and producing quality prod-
ucts with such equipment. It is apparent that funds in
adequate amounts should be provided for reconditioning the
better vessels of the fleet, replacing the most antiquated, and
commissioning new vessels as required by the expanding
program of the Survey.
(App. IV lists the 15 ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, of
which 5 are under 100 tons, 6 have a displacement between 100 and
300 tons, and 4 vary from 1,106 to 2,600 tons. Six are described as
in good condition, 2 fair, 5 poor, and 2 very poor.)
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 9
It is a matter of much concern to the Panel that, because
of fund limitations, the Survey cannot procure, through its
civilian operations, enough information to satisfy the de-
mands of the Defense agencies and that the Defense agencies
must establish duplicate facilities to satisfy the needs, and
through military operations. The Survey has an unchal-
lenged record for economy. It seems clear to the Panel that
it would be far more appropriate to allocate funds in proper
amounts to permit an adequate civilian program by a civilian
agency.
The space age is new. Its impact upon the Defense
agencies is everyday knowledge to youngsters of preschool
age. Yet the Coast and Geodetic Survey has been bypassed
in the ‘‘tooling”’ for the new era—in spite of the fact that its
products are an essential element in the planning, research
and development which has made the space age possible
and which will inevitably lead to further victories in space.
From the point of view of basic economy, if for no other
reason, the future budgets of the Survey should be increased
substantially—in the immediate future. Allocations of this
magnitude represent only a small fraction of a major defense
project of today and could have a major influence on both
the defense and commerce of our country.
S. 2692 would authorize a substantial increase in funds for operation
of Coast and Geodetic Survey ships, and construction of 10 ocean-
going survey ships during the next 10 years.
The bill would authorize inauguration in the Weather Bureau of a
comprehensive 10-year study of the interchange of energy between
the oceans and the atmosphere, phenomenon which has a profound
influence on storms, climate, and weather. Touching on this scientific
problem, the Academy committee states:
Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, frosts and air-
pollution hazards have disastrous effects which, on occasion,
have influenced the course of modern society. The economic
losses accompanying some of these atmospheric catastrophes
are staggering. Meteorologists do their best to predict and
warn against these phenomena; they even hope in the future
to be able to control them. But progress is impeded by lack
of adequate knowledge concerning the processes that produce
them. A close look at meteorology must inevitably point to
the need for more research in order to reach the level of pre-
diction and control that our society demands.
The Academy Committee report on the Maritime Administration is
essentially limited to recommending a broader program of research and
development. S. 2692 would place on the Administration the re-
sponsibility of constructing ships specifically designed for basic oceano-
graphic research, giving due attention to quiet operation, efficient and
economical scientist-crew ratios, space and power for winches and
other scientific factors.
The Academy Committee panel deplores the fact that: ‘The
Maritime Administration does not have specific legislation directed
to the performance of research and development,’ and recommends
S. Rept. 1525, 86—2 2
10 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
that the Department of Commerce seek such clear-cut legislative
authority from the Congress.
S. 2692 would provide the authority necessary for the agency to
carry out those segments of the oceanographic program assigned to it
under the bill.
To sum up the preliminary steps toward an oceanographic program,
the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, Navy
Department, Atomic Energy Commission, and National Science Foun-
dation sponsored and financed independent and extensive studies by
outside committees of highly qualified and wholly objective scientists.
These studies were completed. Reports were prepared. The re-
ports were furnished to the sponsors.
Strong emphasis is placed in these reports on the needs for greatly
expanded and coordinated research in all marine scientific fields, and
a program for such expansion and coordination is outlined. This
program has been embodied in the bill.
The needs are established. They are known to the agencies, to
the Congress, to scientific organizations and institutions, and, as evi-
denced by the large correspondence the bill has generated, to the
general public.
Similar consideration must be given to the benefits.
BENEFITS TO BE ANTICIPATED From a NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC
ResearcH Poricy AND PROGRAM
The benefits which would accrue from the program authorized in
S. 2692 can be roughly classified as:
1. Miltary.
2. Economie.
3. Welfare.
4. International.
Some of the benefits in each of these categories previously have
been touched on. But many remain, many of them brought out at
hearings on the bill before your committee.
Military benefits would include:
Enhanced security from surprise attack by missile-launching enemy
submarines. This will be achieved when we know more about under-
water acoustics and have perfected our surveillance and detection
systems. This will require extensive data on undersea water densities.
To quote a forthcoming report of the Committee on Oceanography
titled ‘‘Oceanography Research for Defense Applications’’:
Density (temperature and salinity) is the fundamental
parameter needed for an understanding and use of the
propagation of acoustical energy. Applications of this in-
formation are particularly important in forecasting sonar
ranges, in all types of submarine and antisubmarine warfare,
in convoy routing, in mine warfare, and in the planning and
development of all types of detection and communications
systems which employ acoustic energy. Since sea water is
virtually opaque to all other forms of radiated energy,
underwater sound offers the only foreseeable means of long-
range detection, communication, and monitoring.
“Today, there is no adequate defense against the nuclear, missile-
launching submarine,” states the official publication of the Navy
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 11
League, but this does not necessarily hold true for tomorrow, accord-
ing to our foremost scientists in this field, if ample facilities are made
available for continued research.
These scientists have a twofold problem.
They have the problem of perfecting ways in which our Navy can
detect hostile submarines and keep them under surveillance.
They have the converse problem of perfecting ways that will
enable our own submarines to escape detection.
We must be scientifically prepared for both undersea defense and
offense, and this will require greatly intensified research and engi-
neering.
We must be prepared also to counter any underwater mine war-
fare, in which the Soviet Union has long specialized. Today’s mines
are more diabolical than any previously used. Some are fired by the
sound of a passing ship. Others are activated by a ship’s magnetic
field. Still others require only a change in water pressure, which
also can be caused by passing ships. Some combine several or all of
these ‘‘influences.”’
In antimine warefare we will need the councils of specialists in
underwater acoustics (including knowledge of sounds made by fish
and other forms of life in the sea), wave pressures and water density,
magnetism, gravity, and bottom topography.
There are other military uses for three-dimensional knowledge of
the oceans, some of them classified.
Economic benefits are incalculable.
Witnesses at hearings on the bill testified emphatically that elimi-
nating all military factors, the economic benefits from the projected
research program would far outweigh the costs of the program.
Economic benefits will be derived from the resources of the sea.
These include food, liquid fuels, metallic minerals.
Food possibilities are tremendous. Population the world over is
exploding. By the year 2000 it is expected to reach 6 billion, more
than double the present total. That of the United States will be 200
million by 1970; 230 million by 1980, according to the lowest Census
Bureau estimates.
As population soars the United States and other nations will seek
to supplement their protein needs from the sea as do Japan and other
heavily populated countries.
Russia, though not heavily populated, is making a massive effort to
increase 1ts protein food supply by harvesting the oceans. The Soviet
Union has more than 100 fisheries research ships exploring the oceans
and has invaded waters of the Bering Sea, the Grand Banks off
Newfoundland, tuna fisheries in the central Atlantic and mid-Pacific,
and other fisheries along the West Coast of Africa.
Red China is making desperate efforts to double its seafood pro-
duction. Meanwhile the United States catch has steadily declined,
our fisheries research fleet and its activities have diminished, and we are
in grave danger of losing an industry that produces food in the value
of a billion and a half dollars annually and gives employment to 500,000
citizens.
S. 2692 would authorize a scientific research program and economic
studies designed to revive this industry and increase our food supplies
from the oceans, their estuaries, and the Great Lakes.
Your committee has been told that 40 percent of the world’s known
reserves of liquid fuels lie offshore beneath the Continental Shelves.
#2 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
As our terrestrial oilfields become depleted these reserves will become
increasingly essential to our economy.
The committee was further told that the oceanic waters contain
more minerals than have been mined by man in all history.
Vast deposits of manganese, cobalt, copper, iron, and nickel nodules
lie on the deep ocean floor—one of these is off our South Atlantic
coast—and Dr. Milner B. Schaefer testified that he expects techniques
will be developed which will enable them to be mined commercially
within 5 or 6 years.
Dr. Schaefer stated the mineral resources of the sea floor appear to
warrant modest expenditures to assess their abundance and value,
and for engineering studies of means of mining them, and added:
I note with great pleasure that the Senate bill, S. 2692,
introduced by Senator Magnuson and others, contains
authorization for various appropriate Government agencies
to carry out the researches recommended by our Committee
in the field of ocean resources, and also provides for means of
coordinating the work of different agencies through a new
office in the National Science Foundation.
Mankind will reap many benefits from marine research other than
those derived from harvesting the ocean’s riches. Among them will
be added safeguards against the ocean’s destructive forces, for the
seas can be a friend as well as a mortal foe.
Earthquakes in Chile in the latter part of May caused tidal waves,
or tsunamis as they are known to scientists, that sweeping up, down,
and across the Pacific have brought death to thousands. In distant
Japan these waves, traveling at speeds up to 440 miles per hour, cost
at least 180 lives, in Hawaii 55, and in seattered islands throughout
the South and Southwest Pacific possibly many others. The Philip-
pines, Formosa, and Pitcairn Islands were among those struck.
Property damage at Hilo, Hawaii, was estimated at $60 million and
the damage in Japan was many times greater.
Science cannot control earthquakes and it cannot prevent them
from causing tsunamis, but science can convey warning which should
reach those living on the edges of the ocean basins far in advance of
any tidal wave. The speed of sound under water is about 4.8 times
faster than sound waves traveling through the atmosphere.
Normal wave action also can be destructive and annually brings
property losses to beach residents of the United States of more than
$15 million. The Beach Erosion Board of the Army Corps of Engi-
neers, with extremely limited research funds, is making significant
contributions toward mitigating this damage and the value of its
scientific work is recognized in S. 2692 by authorizing its expansion.
Great damage also is caused annually by sea-born hurricanes, a
combined oceanographic-meteorological problem of great magnitude.
From 1915 to 1955 hurricanes caused damage to “coastal property
of the United States totaling $2.837 billion. During the 4-year period
since then property losses have aggregated $205 million despite im-
proved warning systems. Scientists are now gleaning new clues about
the relationship between water temperature and atmospheric circula-
tion that may lead to hurricane forecasts before the hurricanes them-
selves have formed, enabling ships at sea to avoid them and shore
dwellers ample time to prepare against them.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 13
One of the most obvious benefits will be to commerce generally.
Greater knowledge of currents, winds, and weather already enable our
modern transocean carriers to clip a full day from the previous sched-
ules. These are surface ships.
Merchant ships of the not too distant future may be nuclear-
propelled submersibles that could cross the oceans far beneath the
surface. They might move at approximately twice the speed of
present-day. craft, will seek out the favorable subterranean currents
much as high altitude aircraft today take advantage of the jet stream,
and avoid wind and wave resistance and be undisturbed by storms.
Sonar would take the place of vision, and this will be a gain because
underwater acoustic ranges will be far longer than line of sight ranges.
Fog will be a forgotten problem.
Underwater mariners will follow detailed charts of the bottom
topography of the oceans much as motorists scan their roadmaps, and
midocean automatic devices, many of them located on sea mounts,
would substitute for lighthouses.
To plot these sea mounts and the ocean bottom will require ex-
tensive surveys by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and Hydrographic
Office, and such surveys would be authorized in S. 2692.
Welfare benefits would accrue from climatological studies, from
extensive investigation of the effects on the marine environment of
atomic fallout and radioactive wastes, and from research into methods
of counteracting pollution of estuarine and inshore coastal waters.
Medical possibilities were hinted by Dr. Ray, who told the committee:
No marine invertebrate is known to suffer from cancer or
any tumorous condition.
Perhaps the most important benefit that can result from a long-
range, coordinated oceanographic research program was voiced by Dr.
Spilhaus when he testified:
Like atoms for peace, we can use the oceans for peace.
To do this, continued Dr. Spilhaus:
We must have leadership on the oceans in the face of the
threat of war and equally we must have leadership on the
oceans in our hopes and our work toward peace.
EXPLANATION OF THE BILL
The bill would authorize a 10-year program of marine research,
surveys, and education in which 5 departments of the Federal Govern-
ment and 14 agencies would participate.
Three of the agencies are independent; the remainder are within
departments.
The departments and agencies are:
Departments:
Commerce:
Weather Bureau.
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Maritime Administration.
Bureau of Standards.
14 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
Interior:
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.
Bureau of Mines.
Geological Survey.
Navy:
Office of Naval Research.
Hydrographic Office.
Health, Education, and Welfare: Office of Education.
Army: Beach Erosion Board:
Independent agencies:
National Science Foundation.
Atomic Energy Commission.
Smithsonian Institution.
Following approval by your committee of the bill as amended,
comments on the bill were received from the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare proposing that should the committee take
favorable action on the bill appropriate sections of the bill should be
amended to include the Public Health Service, which, according to
the Department, engaged in a number of scientific activities in the
marine environment.
The Department suggestion is meritorious and well grounded.
However, as it was not made until after your committee had ordered
the bill reported, as amended, the proposal can only be included by
adoption by the Senate of an appropriate amendment offered from
the floor.
The bill, as introduced on September 11, 1959, contained 15 sec-
tions. As amended in committee the bill has 19 sections. New
sections were added to authorize participation in the 10-year program
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through its Beach Erosion
Board, which was requested in comments received from the Depart-
ment of Defense, and of the Smithsonian Institution, requested by a
number of scientific institutions and concurred in by the Committee
on Oceanography.
Remaining committee amendments are principally of a perfecting
nature and a majority of these were suggested by departments and
agencies in their comments on the bill. Others, designed to broaden
the program in the interest of balance and efficiency, were proposed
by scientific organizations or the Committee on Oceanography fol-
lowing a review of its summary report.
ANALYSIS OF BILL BY SECTIONS
The title of the act, ‘“Marine Sciences and Research Act of 1959,”
is given in section 1.
DECLARATION OF POLICY
Section 2 declares the policy objectives of the Congress with re-
lation to oceanographic and lmnological research and surveys. — It
substantially restates the objectives detailed in Senate Resolution
136, adopted by the Senate in the Ist session of the 86th Congress;
declares that to fulfull these objectives requires establishment of a
Division of Marine Sciences in the National Science Foundation, and
authorizes this Division to accept certain responsibilities and under-
take certain duties.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 15
A significant paragraph in this section states as follows:
The Congress further declares that sound policy requires
that the United States not be excelled in the fields of oceano-
graphic research, basic, military or applied, by any nation
which may presently or in the future threaten our general
welfare, maritime commerce, security, access to and utiliza-
tion of ocean fisheries, or the contamination of adjacent seas
by the dumping of radioactive wastes or other harmful
agents.
Such a policy requires, the section amplifies, construction and
modernization of research and survey ships and marine laboratories,
development of new hydrographic research tools, recruitment of
prospective oceanographers, collection and classification of biological
marine data, establishment of a national oceanographic records center
and development of formal international cooperation in the marine
sciences and oceanographic surveys on a reciprocal basis subject to
the approval of the President.
The Division of Marine Sciences would be authorized and directed to
develop and encourage a continuing national policy and program for
the promotion of oceanographic research, surveys, and education in
the marine sciences; recommend contracts, grants, loans or other
forms of assistance for the development and operation of this program;
cooperate with and encourage the cooperation of agencies participating
in the program; foster interchange of pertinent scientific information,
and evaluate the scientific aspects of programs of marine research,
surveys and taxonomy undertaken by agencies of the Federal Govern-
ment for work in these scientific fields.
In other words the Division of Marine Sciences of the National
Science Foundation would serve in a coordinating and evaluation
capacity in addition to exercising certain planning and policy functions
in connection with the 10-year oceanographic program and to giving
direct assistance to that program through grants, loans, or contracts
for research and education.
Your committee had two alternatives in placing responsibility for
coordination and evaluation of the national program as it progresses.
It could create a separate agency, as was done with respect to the
development of the nuclear and space sciences, or it could designate an
appropriate unit within an existing agency to undertake these responsi-
bilities and functions.
The latter was preferred. Establishment of an independent ocean-
ographic agency, it was believed, might duplicate or disrupt marine
activities of a number of existing Federal offices and bureaus, create
conflicts of authority, and increase capital and operating costs.
For development of nuclear energy or the space sciences establish-
ment of separate and independent agencies was appropriate because
both were relatively new, as was the Government’s interest in them.
Nor were these programs widely dispersed among the various Federal
departments and bureaus.
The marine sciences, on the other hand, are not new.
They merely have been neglected.
Work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in this field, for example,
dates back to 1807, and that of the Hydrographic Office to 1830.
Both have, in times past, made significant contributions to our knowl-
edge of the oceans, but their achievements often have been obscured
16 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
because both agencies are submerged in major departments of our
Government with numerous projects and programs. This is true
generally of all scientific agencies within the departments engaged im
various programs of marine research. Other programs in the depart-
ments require larger expenditures and personnel and apparently re-
ceive priority in budget considerations.
The plaints of scientists, like those of small frogs in big ponds, too
frequently have been only faintly heard.
Scientific effort in the oceanographic field has suffered generally
from lack of coordinated planning, effort, and evaluation. Yet a hard
core of splendid scientific talent, extensive background data, and
modest technical facilities exist in all of these agencies, and all of them
have had operational experience. Some also have research or survey
fleets, however small and antiquated. These facts were well presented
to your committee during hearings on the bill.
In view of these facts, it was thought appropriate to continue
oceanographic operations in the existing agencies, but to provide these
agencies with improved facilities for research and congressional assur-
ance, in the form of a 10-year authorization, of contimuity m their
scientific efforts.
Likewise it was thought appropriate to place, through provisions
of the bill, direct responsibility on the departmental Secretaries as
well as on the agencies, for carrying out the activities authorized
in the bill.
The importance of this was emphasized by Dr. Columbus O’D.
Iselin, dean of U.S. oceanographers, in his testimony at hearings
before the committee on the bill. Dr. Iselin was discussing a research
operation now taking place in the Atlantic in which four small ships
and approximately 45 scientists are participating, and which he
described as—
both scientifically excitmg and an important part of the
problem of detecting and destroying enemy submarines
equipped with ballistic missiles.
Dr. Iselin continued:
This operation has been made possible through the coop-
eration of several agencies, both governmental and private.
The cooperation between the fellows who are working
actually at sea today or in the air or beneath the seas—the
cooperation is excellent. * * * People are working around
the clock, not for a day but for days on end.
From where I sit what bothers me is that the entire opera-
tion has had to be organized at the working level. The senior
members of the cooperating agencies have really no time to
understand what we are trying to do, or what it really means
to them in terms of efficiency of their service.
In my opinion, Mr. Chairman, the most important thing
that any bill that you can devise in support of marine
science could do is to remind the heads of agencies (agencies
which are in fact cooperating at the working level) that they,
too, should take part in the planning of such future operations
and that they should be cooperating as vigorously as the
fellows who are struggling with seasickness and airsickness
this morning.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT LT
There remained the problem of what instrument or group, respon-
sive to Congress, should be given the responsibility of policy and
program planning, coordination and evaluation of the national en-
deavor, during the 10-year period of expansion authorized in the bill.
This was a problem that had perplexed the Committee on Oceanog-
raphy throughout its studies and which was left unresolved in its
report.
The question was raised again by Chairman Magnuson during hear-
ings on the bill with Dr. Harrison Brown, Chairman of the Committee
on Oceanography, appearing as a witness. Dr. Brown replied as
follows:
We found in our survey of the oceanographic situation that
this is perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of improving
the status of oceanography, particularly within the Govern-
ment. This is a field which, as you know, completely cuts
across numerous Government agencies. Almost every
agency in one way or another has oceanographic interests and
the problem is how should this be coordinated.
Our own Committee discussed this at length. There were
some of us who at one time felt that perhaps some kind of a
central agency should be established. There were others
who felt we ought to attempt to maintain independent de-
velopment within individual agencies as much as possible
_ and after thrashing this out we came to the conclusion that
we favored a compromise between the central agency and
the independent development approach.
Now I believe that the decision that your committee
makes in this legislation far transcends oceanography itself.
I believe that it will get at the core of the very basic funda-
mental problem of decision making, concerning science and
technology in Government.
In selecting the National Science Foundation as the agency in which
these responsibilities should be vested there were these considerations:
1. The National Science Foundation is concerned exclusively with
science and with the education and training of scientists.
2. It operates under a broad mandate of the National Foundation
Act of 1950 to ‘‘develop and encourage the pursuit of a national policy
for the promotion of basic research and education in the sciences.”’
3. Its statutory duties include bringing about ‘“‘the effective coor-
dination of the various scientific information activities within the
Federal Government,” and fostering ‘the interchange of scientific
information among scientists in the United States and foreign coun-
tries.”
4. A major purpose under the act is to—
evaluate scientific research programs undertaken by agencies
of the Federal Government, and to correlate the Foundation’s
scientific research programs with those undertaken by indi-
viduals and by public and private research groups.
5. It reports annually to Congress and to the President.
6. The National Science Foundation is administered by a Director
and a Board of 24 members who must be eminent in fields of science,
S. Rept. 1525, 86—2——_3
18 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
engineering, agriculture, education or public affairs. Members of this
Board are appointed by the President.
7. The act provides that there shall be divisions within the Founda-
tion, each concerned with a special field or fields of science, and that
for each division there shall be a divisional committee which can con=
sist of either members or nonmembers of the Board.
Scientists from many universities and institutions serve on the
Board and on the divisional committees, assuring broad expression of
independent views.
The Division of Marine Sciences for which the bill would provide
would include both scientists not connected with the Government
and representatives of the major agency participants in the program.
This coincides partially with the British method of planning and
conducting its oceanographic research with an enviable record of
accomplishment.
Great Britain in 1949 established a National Oceanographic Council,
consisting of Government officials and representatives of universities
and scientific bodies, the latter having an equal voice in formulating
policies. An Executive Committee consists of a high Government
official from each of four Government agencies and representatives
from four major universities. This committee supervises execution of
policy by a National Institute of Oceanography, headed by a civilian
director appointed by the Executive Committee, and by a secretary
who is designated by a Government agency.
The principle of both governmental and nongovernmental partici-
pation in planning, coordinating, and evaluating 1 is adopted in S. 2692,
but not the centralized operational approach.
A Division of Marine Sciences in the National Science Foundation
with authority to carry out the responsibilities delegated to it in the
bill would consolidate activities now dispersed in the agency among
three separate divisions and one office—the Division of Biological and
Medical Sciences, the Division of Mathematical, Physical and Engi-
neering Sciences, the Division of Scientific Personnel and Education,
and the Office of Special International Studies.
The National Science Foundation, in its comments on S. 2692, takes
the position that it prefers to keep marine biological activities separate
from research in physical oceanography. In many countries and in
many institutions of our own country, your committee is informed,
biological, physical and chemical ocean research are carried on without
discord by scientists and specialists in these fields associated and work-
ing together on the same ship. Section 2 presupposes that similar
harmony could exist within the National Science Foundation.
No other agency in Government could perform a greater service to
the Nation in this long-neglected scientific field than the National
Science Foundation should it exercise the authority to be vested in it
by section 2 of this bill.
Committee amendments to section 2
1. Page 3, line 4, insert ‘‘and marine surveys” immediately following
the word ‘research’. This amendment was suggested by the Navy
and Defense Departments in their joint comments on the bill, and by
the Committee on Oceanography.
2. Page 3, line 6: A period was placed after the word “Council.”
oe Page 3; line 7, strike out ‘which requires but is not’? and sub-
stitute “This progr am should include but not be” preceding the words
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 19
“limited to the’. This language is suggested in the Navy-Defense
Department comments.
4. Page 3, line 11, strike out “construction of’? and substitute
‘modernization of existing and construction of new Government and
civilian’? preceding the phrase “laboratory and shore facilities’.
Suggested in Navy-Defense Department comments.
5. Page 3, lines 15 and 16, strike ‘including but not” and insert
“which may include but not be’. Suggested by Navy-Defense
Departments.
6. Page 3, line 18, insert after “buoys” the words ‘instrumented
marine towers, wave gages’. Suggested by Navy-Defense Depart-
ments.
7. Page 3, line 25, and page 4, line 1, insert after the word ‘“‘under-
graduate”’ the words ‘‘and graduate’’, after the word ‘‘chemistry”’ the
word ‘“‘mathematics,” and after the word “biology” the words “‘, engi-
neering, limnology, meteorology,’’. This increases the fields from
which prospective oceanographers would be recruited for advanced
education in the marine sciences, and was proposed by the Committee
on Oceanography, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanog-
raphy, and with respect to mathematics and engineering, by the Navy-
Defense Departments.
8. Page 4, line 7: To the word “field” add the letter ‘‘s’’.
9. Page 4, line 8: Substitute the words ‘‘marine science’”’ for the
word ‘‘oceanography’’.
10. Page 4, line 9, insert the word ‘‘classification” after the word
“behavior” ending line 8. Suggested by scientists in a number of
universities and institutions.
11. Page 4, line 20, insert ‘“‘and oceanographic surveys” after the
word “sciences”. ‘This brings section 2, numbered paragraph 7,
relating to international cooperation, into conformity with previously
stated policy objectives.
12. Page 4, line 23, strike ‘‘oceanographic”’ and substitute ‘‘marine”’
after the word ‘‘of’’, and insert the words “and surveys’’ after
‘“Yesearch’’.
13. Page 5, line 17, insert the words ‘‘marine research” after the
word “‘of”’ and the word “‘surveys” after “‘oceanographic.”” These are
clarifying changes.
14. Page 5, line 25, insert “the Smithsonian Institution,” after
“Survey,” and on page 6, line 1, after “Standards,” insert ‘‘the United
States Army Corps of Engineers (including the Beach Erosion
Board),’”’. The purpose of these amendments has been previously
explained in the report.
15. Page 6, line 17, strike ‘“‘oceanograph and fisheries research and
surveys” and insert ‘“‘marine research, surveys, and taxonomic pro-
erams’’. This deals with evaluation of programs by the National
Science Foundation and is intended to make the language more
specific.
16. Page 6, line 20, insert “in these scientific fields” after the word
‘“Government”’. A perfecting amendment.
DIVISION OF MARINE SCIENCES
Sec: on 3 of S. 2692 would amend the National Science Foundation
Act of 1950 to include a Division of Marine Sciences and a Divisional
Committee of this Division. Six scientists selected on a basis of
20 ‘MARINE SCIENCES AND. RESEARCH ACT
competence from universities and non-Federal institutions would
serve with representatives from designated Government agencies on
the Div:sional Committee.
Committee amendments to section 3
1. Page 7, line 8, insert after the last word of this line the words
“divisional, committee of the”’
2. Page 7, line 13, insert after “Administration,” the words ‘the
Beach Erosion Board of the United States Army Corps of Engineers,’’.
This was suggested in the joint comments submitted by the Navy and
Defense Departments.
3. Page 7, line 14, insert after the word “scientists”? the words
“selected on a basis of competence”’; after the word “and” the word
“non-Federal’”’, and strike after the word “institutions” the phrase
“receiving assistance from the foregoing agencies.’””’ The purpose of
the first amendment is to assure representatives chosen from non-
Federal fields to serve on the divisional committee of the Division of
Marine Sciences shall be highly qualified scientists. The final amend-
ment in this section deletes what the committee considered to be an
unnecessary restriction in this selection.
AUTHORIZATIONS FOR NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Section 4 adopts the recommendations of the Committee on Ocea-
nography in authorizing appropriations to the National Science Foun-
dation of funds for development of the marine sciences over a 10-year
period beginning with July 1 of the first fiscal year following approval
of the act by the President, and would provide that these appropria-
tions be in addition to other appropriations provided the Foundation
to carry out its statutory duties. Other sections of the bill authorizing
appropriations contain similar language with reference to the effective
date of the act and to appropriations authorized being supplementary
to other appropriations.
Authorizations would include $9,950,000 for construction of research
ships, $12,440,000 for their operation over a 10-year period, and
$8,250,000 for shore facilities for marine research. Under authority
provided in section 3 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950
the agency may conduct these and other activities specified in the
bill through contracts, erants, loans, and other forms of assistance.
The bill would authorize $37, 200,000 for basic marine research
operations with the sae that expenditures in this category not
exceed $8 million in any year; $3 million for fellowships to graduate
students and postdoctoral ilows training to become professional
oceanographers, annual costs not to exceed $300,000, and such sums as
may be adequate for special devices for ocean exploration and research.
The latter would include bathyscaphs and other manned sub-
mersibles, icebreakers and submarines converted for scientific use,
acoustic telemetering devices, magnetometers and many other ad-
vanced instruments. Expenditures under this provision would be
limited to not more than $10 million in any one year. Total costs of
this specialized equipment over the 10-year period have been esti-
mated by the Committee on Oceanography at $50.2 million.
For what the Committee on Oceanography recommends as the
Foundation’s portion of a minimal national oceanographic program,
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 21
the agency’s requirements over a 10-year period would approximate
$121 million.
Amendments to section 4
1. Page 8, line 8, and page 8, line 9, prior to the word “research”
the word “oceanographic” is stricken and the wor¢ “marine”’ sub-
stituted as a somewhat broader adjective. Suggested by several
State fish and game departments.
2. Page 9, line 2, insert the words “and postdoctoral fellows”’ after
the word “students” and the words ‘‘physical, biological, chemical,
and geological” after the word “professional”. The purpose of these
amendments is to broaden opportunities for persons with specialized
knowledge to qualify for fellowships to be used in training to become
professional oceanographers. They were recommended to your com-
mittee by the Committee on Oceanography and other scientific groups
and individuals.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Section 5 of the bill would authorize and direct the Secretary of the
Interior to undertake certain activities, studies, and research as part
of the general 10-year program for development of the marine sciences.
The Department and its agencies have a primary responsibility to
conserve and develop resources in order to meet the requirements of
national security and an expanding economy.
Several agencies within the Department, notably the Bureau of
Commercial Fisheries, the Bureau of Mines, and the Geological Survey
have a direct interest in the resources, actual or potential, of and in
the oceans and the Great Lakes.
These resources include marine fisheries, metallic minerals, and
offshore deposits of liquid fuels. To realize increased benefits from
these resources an expanded program of ocean and Great Lakes
research is required, both basic and applied.
S. 2692 would authorize such a program, facilities to carry out
such a program, and studies designed to augment the economic
benefits of such a program to the Nation.
Specifically, the Secretary of the Interior would be authorized and
directed to—
1. Make grants of funds to qualified scientists, research
laboratories, institutions, or other non-Federal agencies in fur-
therance of the purposes of the act.
2. Replace, modernize, and enlarge the number of oceangoing
ships being used for research, exploration, surveying, and the
development of marine resources by the Department.
3. Construct and operate shore facilities and laboratories
adequate to support the above ships.
4. Cooperate with other departments and agencies, including
agencies of the several States, in the conduct of oceanwide surveys
and of studies concerning the relation of marine life to radioactive
elements.
5. Conduct studies of the economic and legal aspects of com-
mercial fisheries and the utilization of marine products.
6. Cooperate with other governmental agencies, State agencies,
educational institutions, and other public and private organiza-
23, MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
tions or individuals devoted to marine sciences and fishery
research.
7. Determine reserves of metals of industrial or commercial
value in adjacent ocean waters and ascertain techniques and
probable costs of recovery and extraction.
8. Assist in taxonomic studies of marine organisms and in
providing facilities for their preservation and scientific classifica-
tion.
Section 6 of the bill would authorize appropriations for the activities
designated in section 5.
Such sums as may be necessary would be authorized for construc-
tion of new ships for fisheries exploration and research. The amount
to cover the 10-year ship construction program is not specified, as your
committee, which has legislative jurisdiction over the agency, will
wish to review from time to time its progress in the program.
There can be little question that the Bureau of Commercial Fish-
eries, whatever the cause, has not kept pace with its responsibili-
ties in recent years, although it still retains many dedicated officials
and scientists.
The Committee on Oceanography, in its report on “Ocean Re-
sources” filed with your committee, has this terse comment on the
Bureau’s ocean research activities:
The principal Government agency with primary respon-
sibility of research and development of living ocean re-
sources—the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service—is retrogressing rather than
progressing in its ability to engage in broader, basic pro-
grams involving ship operations.
Research ships of the Bureau are small and old and none in recent
years have been replaced although many other nations, including the
Soviet Union, Communist China, Japan, Canada, Great Britain,
France, West Germany, and the Union of South Africa have aug-
mented their fisheries research fleets with new and advanced vessels.
While these and other foreign nations have been enlarging their
fleets, that of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries actually has
diminished.
The Bureau’s principal research ship in the Atlantic, prior to its
deactivation March 9, 1959, Albatross III, has not been replaced.
At the time of its retirement it was 33 years old. Scientific duties
assigned to the Albatross III were transferred to the 147-foot trawler
Delaware, a 22-year-old vessel also engaged in fisheries studies. Like-
wise retired was a Great Lakes research boat, the Musky.
Largest ship of the Bureau’s fleet, the 371-ton Black Douglas is 33
years old and capable of operating only light gear. The Bureau has
been reduced to only six operating vessels over 40 feet in length.
Dr. Schaefer informed your committee during the course of the
hearings that —
the Russians have been doing rather advanced work on ma-
rine biology and particularly oceanography in support of
fisheries development for about as long as we have.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 23
He continued:
In fact, they had a three-vessel expedition working in the
Bering Sea in 1935 and 1936. They have made a thorough
survey there of the fisheries and the currents and the types
of bottom, and so on, and in the fisheries resource development
their work is every bit as good as ours and in some cases it
is advanced.
For example, one of their submarines, the Severyanka, has
been converted into a machine with windows in it and samp-
ling devices to study the upper reaches of the ocean, particu-
larly in relation to the distribution of the herring and other
fish in the North Atlantic. They have made some interesting
discoveries with the submarine. This is one field where they
are at least abreast of us.
Senator Lausche, who was presiding at the hearing during this
portion of the testimony, asked:
From an applied standpoint, have they made advances
in excess of ours, if at all?
Dr. Schaefer:
I would say equal to ours. One example of this is the use
of the Severyanka in the herring fisheries in the Norwegian
and Barents Seas. By using thissubmarine they were able to
make observations on the behavior of the herring. On the
basis of these observations they were able to design gear to
greatly improve their catches. This is just one example. I
wouldn’t say they are ahead of us, but they are certainly
abreast and they are certainly working at it very hard.
The Committee on Oceanography recommended that during the
next 10 years the Bureau construct 14 research ships, 12 of 500 tons
displacement and 2 of 1,200 to 1,500 tons displacement. It esti-
mated the cost at $27.4 million.
In the provision that would authorize appropriations for ship con-
struction by the Bureau, the bill stipulates that the Bureau study the
ships being built by other nations for exploration and research with
a view to increasing the seaworthiness, range and efficiency of our
own fisheries research fleet.
Appropriations for operation of the new U.S. ships to be constructed
under this section of the bill would be authorized subject to a limita-
tion of $2 million per annum for operating costs.
It is also provided that in research operations by the Bureau full
consideration shall be given to the needs for research in the Gulf of
Mexico, Bering Sea, other areas of potential commercial importance
in the oceans, and in the Great Lakes.
A similar stipulation is made in the authorization of such sums as
may be deemed adequate by the department for capital expenditures
in developing or expanding ocean resource studies with such devices
as mesoscaphs for biological observations, automatic continuous
plankton samplers, oceanaria, and instrumentation for studies of
marine life behavior.
The major authorization in this section, however, is that of such
sums as are necessary for operations, excluding ship operations, of
fisheries resource studies including biological surveys, marine popula-
24 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
tion sampling, pond fish culture and brackish water farming, ecologi-
cal mapping, taxonomy, estuary resources and potentials of nutrient
increase. ‘lhese would be limited to $10 million per annum. The
Committee on Oceanography, in its report, estimated that the total
cost of these studies over a 10-year period would not exceed
$67,430,000, the costs beginning at a moderate level and approximately
doubling after the first 5 years, and after facilities in the form of ships
and laboratories had been constructed for the work.
Many of these studies, however, it is presumed by your committee,
would be farmed out to non-Federal agencies, universities, or institu-
tions through the program of grants authorized in section '5(a).
Final authorization in section 6 is that of $11 million for continuing
studies over a 10-year period of increased utilization of marine prod-
ucts, the development of new uses of these products, for legal and
economic studies relating to commercial fisheries, and for investigation
of the mineral resources of the seas. It is specifically stated that in
directing these studies the Secretary of the Interior shall give full
consideration to their being carried on in existing institutions, agen-
cies, or laboratories through the issuance of grants.
A broad program would be assigned to agencies within the Depart-
ment of the Interior. Execution of this program would require not
only legislative authorizations and subsequent appropriations but a
determination on the part of the Department and agencies to enhance
utilization of the ocean’s resources in the national interest and for
the benefit of the American people.
Your committee, in reporting this bill, considers that the potential
values of the resources of the oceans and of the Great Lakes merit the
research facilities and studies authorized.
What these values may be was ably cereitenr each for the committee
at its hearings on the bill by Comdr. C. Wilbur, USN, in a 20-
minute pr esentation. Commander W iIbur said in part:
Fish: The sea is presently supplying only a small percent
of its potential food harvest. Although 35 million tons of
fish in various forms are taken annually, this might well be
increased 10 times or more.
Minerals: The sea is also rich in minerals—in fact, oceanic
waters contain more minerals than have been mined by man
in all history. Each cubic mile of sea water contains 18 mil-
lion tons of dissolved salts of sodium, potassium, calcium,
bromine, and phosphorous. There is enough gold in the sea
to make every inhabitant of the world a millionnaire. In
addition, on the floor of the deep seas—in the form of nod-
ules—lie deposits of cobalt, copper, nickel, iron, and man-
ganese.
Oil wells: As each day passes our world requires more fuel
to produce energy. Offshore—under the sea of the Conti-
nental Shelves—tlies 40 percent of the world’s known petro-
leum—20 million barrels of it. As commercial atomic power
becomes a practical reality, the world’s oceans offer a promis-
ing fuel source. Sea water is a source of both uranium for
fission-produced power and deuterium for heavy hydrogen
or thermonuclear power.
In the opinion of your committee, this country can ill afford to take
second place in exploring and developing these potentials.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 25
Amendments to sections 5 and 6
1. Page 9, line 5, insert ‘Geological Survey” after the word “‘Mines”’.
This amends the heading over these two sections to read: “Bureau of
Mines, Geological Survey, and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries,
Department of the Interior.” Representatives of the Geological
Survey, at meetings of the Committee on Oceanography and of the
Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oceanography, have supplied
convincing evidence that they should participate in the overall oceano-
graphic program.
As further evidence an outline of current research programs being
conducted by the Geological Survey has been submitted to your Com-
mittee on Interstate and F oreign Commerce in connection with its
considerations of S. 2692.
These programs include research into marine geology and mineral
resources of the Continental Shelves and shallower oceanic waters;
marine sedimentary diagenetic and mineral accretion processes; marine
geochronology and the sedimentary record; paleoclimatology, paleo-
biogeography and paleocirculation; major crustal features of the
western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and California offshore basins;
hydrodynamics of tidal and estuarine flow, and geochemical balance
of the hydrosphere.
The Department of the Interior, in its comments on S. 2692, states
that present expenditures of the Geological Survey ageregate ‘ ‘some
$600,000 annually,” a relatively small amount considering the magni-
tude of the research it is attempting.
2. Page 9, line 16, insert after the word “institutions” the words
“or non-Federal agencies”. This amendment is designed to make
specific the inclusion of State fisheries departments among those eligi-
ble to receive grants from the Federal department or agencies for basic
and applied research programs, facilities or equipment.
3. Page 10, line 4, insert “including agencies of the several states”’
after the word ‘‘agencies”’. The purpose of this amendment is iden-
tical to that above except that it is applicable to the conduct of ocean-
wide surveys from which data relative to ocean resources may be
obtained.
4. Page 10, line 7, strike the first word ‘‘Conduct” and substitute
“Cooperate with other departments and Agencies, including agencies
of the several States in the conduct of”. This relates to studies of the
relation of marine life to radioactive elements, and has the same pur-
pose as the two preceding amendments.
5. Page 10, line 16, insert the words ‘‘and cooperate with”’ after
the word ‘‘from”’. This is a perfecting amendment suggested in com-
ments received from the Navy and Defense Departments.
6. Page 10, line 18, insert ‘‘or their agencies, and with’ after
‘“States,”’. This is similar to numbered amendments 2, 3, and 4 above
and relates to cooperation between Federal agencies and non-Federal
agencies and institutions.
7. Page 10, line 19, insert ‘‘and the” after the word ‘‘research” and
the letter “‘s” after “science”.
8. Page 10, line 20, strike the word ‘‘oceanography’’.
9. Insert after line 25 the following paragraph:
(1) Encourage and assist in taxonomic studies of marine
organisms and in providing facilities for the preservation of
S. Rept. 1525, 86—2———4
26 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
specimens useful in scientific classification of marine or-
ganisms.
10. Page 11, line 1, strike ‘‘(i)”” and insert in lieu thereof ‘‘(j)’’.
11. Page 11, line 12, strike the word ‘Bureau’.
12. Page 11, line 13, strike the words “of Mines and the” and
insert after the word ‘‘Fisheries,’’? the phrase ‘‘Bureau of Mines and
Geological Survey’’. The purpose of this is to include the Geological
Survey among the agencies in the Department of the Interior for which
sums are authorized to be appropriated in this section.
13. Page 12, line 13, insert after “Studies” the words “which may
include but not be”’ and strike the words “including, but not”. This
is perfecting language which follows suggestions in the joint comments
submitted by the Navy and Defense Departments.
14. Page 12, lines 23, 24, and 25, strike the word “north” ending
line 23, all of line 24 reading “of 40 degrees north latitude, between
15 and 40 de-’’, and from line 25 the following: ‘‘gress north latitude,”
and in line 25 insert after the word ‘Sea,’ the words ‘‘the Great
Lakes, and’. The purpose of this amendment is to remove geo-
graphical specifications relative to providing facilities for, and con-
ducting ocean resource studies, which at hearings on the bill were
objected to by the Committee on Oceanography as being unduly
restrictive.
15. Page 13, line 1, substitute the word ‘other’ for the word
“ocean” and strike ‘‘and the Great Lakes,” the Great Lakes having
been inserted in the previous line.
16. Page 13, line 9, strike “taxonomic development” and substitute
“taxonomy.” <A perfecting amendment.
17. Strike the word “‘braking”’ and insert in lieu thereof ‘‘brackish.”’
This corrects a misprint in the bill.
18. Page 13, line 15, strike ‘$6,500,000 and substitute ‘$11,-
000,000”. This change is made as the result of a review of the sums
recommended by the Committee on Oceanography of the amounts
needed for a minimal program of studies over a 10-year period of
marine product utilization, development of new uses, legal and eco-
nomic problems affecting commercial fisheries, and utilization of
mineral resources extracted from the marine environment.
19. Page 13, line 18, after the word ‘chemicals,’ strike the word
“and” and insert the word “for.”
20. Page 13, line 19, after the word “products” change the colon to
a comma, and insert ‘for legal and economic studies relating to com-
mercial fisheries, and for investigations of mineral resources of the
seas:”’.
21. Page 13, lines 22, 23, and 24, before the word “through” in
line 22 insert the words ‘‘agencies or laboratories’, and after the
word ‘‘institutions” in line 22 strike the remainder of the paragraph
and insert the words “agencies, and laboratories.’”” <A perfecting
amendment.
Although S. 2692 was introduced on September 11, 1959, and the
Department of the Interior was repeatedly invited to submit com-
ments on the bill, no comments were received until the afternoon of
May 17, 1960, and after it had been announced that the bill was on
the committee agenda for consideration on the following morning.
Among other comments the Department suggested that the limita-
tions placed in section 6(b) on authorizations for operation of new
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT D7,
ships be increased from $2 million per annum to $3,400,000 per an-
num. As no new ships are now being constructed by the Depart-
ment for fisheries research and exploration and as none will be com-
pleted for several years when and if the Department constructs such
ships, no need exists at this time for increasing the amount specified
in the limitation.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Section 7 would authorize and direct the Secretary of Commerce,
with such funds as may be appropriated or otherwise made available to
him, to undertake a 10-year program of study and research as part
of the general program to advance the marine sciences in the United
States and specifically to do the following:
1. Request and obtain cooperation from other Government agencies
having an interest in the marine sciences and surveys, and to cooper-
ate with educatioral institutions, laboratories, and public and private
organizations which may be of assistance in the program.
2. Establish within the Department of Commerce a National
Oceanographic Records Center to collect from other agencies and
departments of the Federal Government, agencies of the several
States, oceanographic institutions and laboratories and other sources,
all oceanographic data, and prepare and disseminate such data for
public use.
3. Replace, modernize, and enlarge in number the oceangoing ships
for use in ocean and coastal surveys by the Coast and Geodetic
Survey.
4. Construct and operate shore facilities for the Coast and Geodetic
Survey and provide instruments and equipment essential for efficient
use of these facilities and survey ships.
5. Inaugurate in the Weather Bureau a comprehensive 10-year
study of the interchange of energy between the oceans and the at-
mosphere, and to prepare, based on such study, climatological maps
illustrating the balance of incoming and outgoing radiation and heat
exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. These studies
may be carried out by the Weather Bureau through contracts with
public or private orgavizations, or by grants to scientific institutions.
6. Require the Maritime Administration to construct ships of
approximately 500 tons and 1,200 to 1,500 tons displacement specifi-
cally designed for basic oceanographic research, and meeting the
scientific requirements of quiet operation, sea keeping and handling
qualities at low speeds, efficient and economical scientist-crew ratios,
and suitable laboratory space and- power for winches and other
equipment. When completed these ships would be made available,
at the discretion of the Secretary, to nonprofit oceanographic research
centers, other agencies of the Federal Government, or State
institutions.
The needs and problems of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Weather
Bureau, and Maritime Administration previously have been touched
on in this report. The needs for a National Oceanographic Records
Center have not.
The recommendation of the Committee on Oceanography follows:
A data center for all oceanographic research should be
established for the storage, routine processing and ‘“‘read-out”’
28 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
of such information as sea surface temperatures, currents, and
meteorological data.
This recommendation was greatly amplified in the Committee’s
subsequent report titled: “(Ocean Resources.’ In states in part:
One of the Federal agencies already concerned with the
collection, preparation and dissemination of scientific and
technical data should be given the means and the responsi-
bility of operating a center for preparing and disseminating
all kinds of oceanographic and closely related data for public
use.
For data already centrally located (such as the hydro-
graphic station data and bathythermograms at the U.S.
Navy Hydrographic Office, the sea level data at the U.S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey and the sea temperature and
related marine meteorological data at the U.S. Weather
Bureau’s National Weather Records Center), the task of the
oceanographic records center would include only its further
preparation and dissemination for oceanographic research and
other public use; for data not now centrally located, it would
also become the central depository. Dissemination should
include periodical publication of summaries (such as mean
monthly sea temperature charts, catalogs of data, etc.) and
specially prepared data to order at cost.
The need for this service has become acute because a great
volume of physical and biological oceanographic data which
has continually been collected in various areas, by different
groups for different purposes, remains unpublished, stored
in the files of many institutions. Hence, much of it is
inaccessible to any individual scientist or institution.
No provision in S. 2692 has received more favorable comment
from individual scientists, scientific organizations, and industry
than that looking toward the establishment of a National Oceano-
graphic Records Center.
The center would be placed in the Department of Commerce for
these reasons:
The center was authorized to be placed in the Department of
Commerce for these reasons:
1. It is a civilian department.
2. Two agencies in the Department, the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, and the Weather Bureau, already have extensive collections
of oceanographic and related data.
3. It is centrally located.
4. The Maritime Administration, which has a direct interest in the
seas, and the National Bureau of Standards, which has a close con-
nection with many branches of science related to ocean research, are
in the Department.
5. Those engaged in ocean commerce and navigation, and in-
dividuals and industries with a need for information and charts of
coastal or estuarine waters, are accustomed to look for such data
at the Department of Commerce.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 29
The National Oceanographic Records Center should serve scientists
in all hydrographic fields; those aspiring to become such scientists;
those who use the oceans for navigation, sport, or means of livelihood;
and those who are merely interested in their phenomena, and should
do this in the broad and thorough manner that the Library of Congress
serves students, scholars, and the general public.
Considered in this perspective the immediate establishment of such
a center is of great importance.
Section 8 would authorize appropriations to carry out the purposes
designated in section 7 including such sums as may be necessary for
the Coast and Geodetic Survey to construct two survey ships of 500
tons displacement, six survey ships of from 1,200 to 1,500 tons dis-
placement, and two survey ships of 2,000 tons displacement, and like-
wise such sums as are necessary to enable the Maritime Administration
to construct the basic research ships authorized in the previous
section. Section 8 would also authorize sums for capital outlay and
operations of the National Oceanographic Records Center.
Amendments to sections 7 and &
1. Page 15, line 5, following the word ‘‘item”’ change ‘‘(a)”’ to “‘(e)”’.
A typographical correction.
2. Page 16, line 7, insert “agencies and”’ before the word ‘‘institu-
tions”. This is a broadening amendment relating to placement of
basic research ships constructed under the program authorized in the
bill to be undertaken by the Maritime Administration.
3. Page 16, line 8, after the word ‘‘Act.”’ insert ‘“The ships author-
ized by this subsection are in addition to ships authorized to be
constructed by other sections of this Act.” A perfecting amendment
relating to construction of basic research ships by the Maritime
Administration.
4. Page 16, line 23, for the sum “$250,000” substitute the sum
“$500,000”. This increase in authorized capital outlay for the
National Oceanographic Records Center is in accord with views
expressed to your committee by scientists, scientific organizations, and
industry representatives that the amount stated in this subsection
of the bill would be inadequate to provide the accommodations and
facilities for the collection and dissemination of the data contemplated.
5. Page 17, line 21, after the word “period.” substitute a semicolon
for the period and add this proviso:
Provided, however, That operating costs for new survey ships
placed in operation by the Coast and Geodetic Survey not
exceed $3,000,000 per annum; and
This is a perfecting amendment suggested in substance in comments
received from the Comptroller General.
6. Page 17, following line 24 add a new subsection, likewise sug-
gested in comments received from the Comptroller General, as follows:
(e) Such sums as are necessary to enable the Maritime
Administration to design and construct the ships authorized
in section 7(f).
30 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, OFFICE OF
EDUCATION
Section 9 would authorize and direct the Secretary of Health, Edu-
cation, and Welfare to undertake a 10-year program of obtaining new
faculty in oceanography and marine sciences as part of the general
program for developing the marine sciences in the United States, and
to provide assistance through the Office of Education in the form of
teachers’ salaries and equipment.
Section 10 would authorize appropriations to carry out the duties
specified in section 9.
Amendment to section 10
Page 18, line 19, strike that portion of the sentence following the
word ‘States.”? which reads ‘‘Appropriations authorized in this sec-
tion”’ and insert prior to the word “shall” at the beginning of line 20
the following: ‘‘Expenditures for this purpose shall not exceed $500,000
per annum and appropriations for such expenditures.”’ The remain-
ing portion of the sentence reads ‘‘shall be in addition to other appro-
priations provided for such Department or Office to carry out its
duties under law,’ and is unchanged. This is a perfecting amend-
ment.
ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
Section 11 would authorize the Atomic Energy Commission to con-
duct an intensive 10-year program of control and monitoring of atomic
waste disposal in the marine environment, including studies of circula-
tion and mixing processes which affect distribution of contaminants
in coastal and estuarine waters and the effects of radioactive elements
on living organisms of the hydrosphere. The section would provide
also that certain aspects of the program shall be carried on by the
Public Health Service and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, or both,
with funds made available by the Atomic Energy Commission.
Great emphasis was placed on the importance of this program by
scientists who testified before the committee.
During the hearings the following colloquy took place between the
chairman (Mr. Magnuson) and former Atomic Energy Commissioner
Sumner Pike:
The CuatrmMan. Have you any information on the problem
of dumping atomic wastes from your experience on the
Atomic Energy Commission?
Mr. Pixs. Yes, I feel, and Dr. Spilhaus does, that we
ought to know what we are doing before we dump any
amount of these wastes in the ocean. Once it is done, it is
irreversible. It is like capital punishment. When you
change your mind you can’t get it back.
We ought to be very clear that if radioactive wastes are
to be dumped in the ocean, they should be dumped in such
places, at such times, and in such quantities only that we
can prove to be completely harmless to the human race and
indeed to other forms of life because, after all, the human
race depends upon other forms of life for its own existence.
Later, Dr. Dayton E. Carritt, formerly a scientist with tne Man-
hattan District at Los Alamos, N. Mex., and now with Johns Hopkins
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 31
University, Baltimore, and an authority on plutonium chemistry,
atomic weights, and chemical properties of sea water, testified:
The information leading from these studies is essential
to an accurate prediction of the fate of the wastes dumped,
either intentionally or by accident, into many parts of the
oceans, and consequently to our assessment of the hazard to
man that might result from these actions.
There is no implication here that we are completely
ignorant with regard to the behavior of the oceans. On
the contrary, the oceanographers in this country are leaders
in their respective fields, and it is due to their efforts that
we are now able to recommend what are certainly safe but
restrictive procedures, and to outline the framework within
which detailed studies can provide the basis for safe and
efficient uses of the marine resources.
Our present situation is one in which our inventory of
trained oceanographers and oceanographic research facilities
cannot keep pace with the demands for solutions to the
problems caused by a rapidly expanding technology that
either directly or indirectly becomes involved with the world’s
oceans.
The situation is urgent but not hopeless. There is time to
make up our deficiencies, but no extra time. In my opinion
we need a relatively long-term national policy that will
(1) provide for the training of new oceanographers, primarily
at the graduate and postgraduate levels, in a manner that
will permit realistic competition with other science fields
for the minds and talents of new scientists, and (2) provide
the facilities, both land based and seagoing, that will permit
present and future marine scientists to carry on efficiently
their studies of the sea. Given these, I feel sure American
oceanography can resume its place as a leader.
The CHaitrMan. Well, Doctor, don’t you think that we
need to know this for another good reason? The world’s
oceans are the property of everyone. Other nations are
embarking upon nuclear programs. It is obvious we are
voing to have to have some international agreements.
How can we go to a conference and propose international
agreements, or accept them, or to take any leadership in them
if we don’t know what we are talking about when we get
there?
Dr. Carrirt. Precisely.
The CHarrMAN. Or some other country at least assumes
they know more of what they are talking about than we do.
Technically we go in empty handed at some of these con-
ferences.
Dr. Carrirr. That is correct.
Section 12 would authorize appropriations to the Atomic Energy
Commission to carry out the studies designated in section 11, specify-
ing such sums as are necessary for the various programs but with a
limitation on the amount expended in any one year of the 10-year
program.
32 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
For engineering studies in connection with control and monitoring
radioactive contamination in the marine environment—not to exceed
$370,000 in any one year.
For participating in international meetings of scientists held to
consider international contro! and monitoring—not to exceed $30,000
in any one year.
For estuarine and coastal studies authorized in section 11—not to
exceed $2,800,000 per annum.
For research to determine circulation and mixing processes which
control the dispersion of radioactive wastes in deep waters of the
open ocean—not to exceed $1,400,000 per annum.
For studies of the inorganic transfer of radioactive elements from
sea water to the sediments—not to exceed $484,000 in the first year
of the program or $299,000 in subsequent years of the 10-year program.
For studies of the effects of the biosphere on the distribution and
circulation of radioisotopes in the oceans and adjacent seas—not to
exceed $938,000 per annum.
For studies of the genetic effects of atomic radiations on marine
organisms—not to exceed $100,000 per annum.
For field experiments in confined bodies of water using radio-
isotopes—not to exceed $100,000 per annum.
For two major open-sea tests of radiological contamination at sea,
its effects on marine life, and its potential effects on humanity—such
sums as are necessary. The Committee on Oceanography estimates
that the cost of these tests would not exceed $2 million each, including
ship time.
Amendments to sections 11 and 12
There are no amendments to these sections.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
Section 13 would authorize the Secretary of the Navy, with such
funds as may be appropriated or otherwise made available to him, to
carry out the following activities:
1. Undertake a 10-year program of expanded basic oceanographic
research and hydrographic surveys as part of the general program
for the development of the marine sciences in the United States.
2. Make grants of funds to scientists, research laboratories, or
institutions for the above purposes.
3. Institute a 10-year program for the replacement, modernization,
and enlargement in ‘the number of ships for use in ocean research and
surveys, retaining title to these ships when they are supplied to
nonpr -ofit scientific institutions for those purposes.
4. Construct and operate sufficient shore facilities and laboratories
to support effectively the expanded research and survey programs.
5. Develop and construct or acquire new and improved vehicles
for ocean research and exploration. These include bathyscaphs,
icebreakers and submarines converted for scientific use. It also
includes many scientific devices, among them seismic equipment,
precision echo sounders, acoustic telemetering devices, and instru-
ments for the study of ‘the current structure of the ocean, oceanic
temperatures, bottom topography, sound transmission and velocities,
ambient noise, biological activity, and chemical or elemental com-
ponents of the oceans.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 33
6. Continue and expand the Navy’s support of civilian oceano-
graphic laboratories as proposed in Project THNOC, which is sub-
stantially similar to recommendations by the Committee on Ocean-
ography.
7. Establish with the National Science Foundation or the National
Academy of Sciences-National Research Council—a program of
scholarships for selected students adapted to graduate training and
research in the marine sciences.
8. Conduct a systematic and expanded program of three-dimen-
Sional ocean surveys including measurements or studies of depths,
salinity, temperature, current velocity, wave motion, magnetism, and
biological activity.
9. Continue a policy of expanding assistance and support to exist-
ing civilian laboratories and universities engaged in basic oceano-
graphic research, and foster the establishment and growth of new
civilian laboratories for applied oceanographic research needed by the
Navy.
10. Request and obtain cooperation from other Government de-
partments and agencies having an interest in the marine sciences, and
to cooperate with the several States, educational institutions, labora-
tories, other public and private organizations, and with persons who
can be of assistance.
Section 14 would authorize appropriations for the programs specified
in section 13 in sums necessary for the following:
Construction of nine research ships of 1,200 to 1,500 tons displace-
ment and four research ships of from 2,000 to 3,000 tons displacement.
It was provided, however, that not more than one of the 2,000- to
3,000-ton ships should be built in any one year of the 10-year program,
and that construction of the other research ships be spaced by years,
with two each in the first and second years, one in the third year, two in
the fourth year, and one in succeeding years of the program. This
proviso followed the scheduling of ship construction in the TENOC
report.
Construction of two survey ships of approximately 500 tons dis-
placement, five survey ships of 1,200 to 1,500 tons displacement, and
three of 2,000 tons displacement, with a proviso that not more than
two of the 1,200 to 1,500 tons ships be built in 1 year.
Construction of one research ship of 300-ton displacement.
Operation of these basic research ships in excess of present operating
costs for such ships, providing that this not exceed $420,000 per
annum for each of the new 1,200- to 1,500-ton ships, $700,000 per
annum for each of the 2,000- to 3,000-ton ships, and $250,000 per
annum for each of the 500-ton ships.
nee of new shore facilities for basic research and for survey
work.
Basic research other than ships.
Engineering needs for ocean exploration and research which may
include bathyscaphs, manned and unmanned buoys, icebreakers and
submarines modified or converted for scientific use (Soviet Russia has
converted two 12,000-ton icebreakers into scientific research ships),
telemetering devices, current meters, underwater television, seismic
equipment, turbulence measuring devices, biological sampling devices,
precision salinometers, precision echo sounders, towed temperature
34 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
recorders, magnetometers, and other instruments and laboratory
equipment for oceanographic research.
Scholarships to selected students as authorized in section 13, with
the proviso, however, that these scholarships not exceed $300,000
per annum.
Amendments to sections 13 and 14
As a preface to listing these amendments it may be stated that with
the exception of two amendments, to be hereafter noted, all of the
amendments were suggested in comments received from the Depart-
ment of the Navy, which also represented the views of the Department
of Defense.
Many of the amendments are technical in nature, several broaden
provisions of section 14, and one proposes the addition of new sections
in order to include the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers,
Beach Erosion Board in the overall program, which has been done.
The amendments:
Section 13:
1. Page 22, line 20, strike the words “Make grants of funds” and
after ‘‘(a)” insert ‘‘Provide funds by contract or otherwise,’ and also
insert, after the word ‘‘scientists,’ and before the word ‘‘research”’
the words “Government and non-Government.”’
2. Page 22, line 22, substitute the word ‘‘funds” for the word
“orants” and in the same line insert, after the word ‘‘for”’ the words
‘basic and applied research,’’. These and the amendments in the
above paragraph broaden the language authorizing the Secretary of
the Navy to assist scientists, laboratories, and institutions with funds
in furtherance of basic and applied research programs of interest to
the Navy.
3. Page 23, line 3, insert the words ‘‘and applied”’ after the word
“basic” and before the word ‘‘research”’. This is a similar broadening
provision with relation to the purposes for which the Secretary is
authorized to initiate and carry out a 10-year program of replacement,
modernization and enlargement in numbers of the Navy’s research
ships.
4. Page 23, line 12, insert the words “and provide related instru-
ments and equipment”’ following the word ‘laboratories.’ This is
a well-considered amendment in connection with the construction
and operation of shore facilities.
5. Page 23, line 13, insert ‘‘and applied” following the word “‘basic’’.
The purpose is the same as that of the similar amendment in para-
graph 3 above.
6. Page 23, line 17, strike the word ‘‘including” and substitute the
words ‘“‘which may include” and in line 18 below insert after the word
‘not’ the word ‘“‘be’’, so that the clause now reads ‘‘which may
include but not be limited to”. This language was preferred in the
Navy-Defense Department comments.
7. Page 24, lines 3 and 4, strike the last word in line 3 (‘‘civilian’’)
and first three words in line 4 (“oceanographic laboratories as’’)
and insert “‘marine studies substantially as’, and after the word
“TENOC” in line 4 insert ‘‘or the Navy’s revised long-range ocea-
nography program’. As amended this subsection now reads:
(e) Continue and expand the Navy’s support of marine
studies substantially as proposed in project TENOC or the
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 35
Navy’s revised long-range oceanography program approved
by the Chief of Naval Operations, and substantially similar to
the recommendations made in the report of the Committee
on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences—
National Research Council.
8. Page 25, line 7, insert ‘‘and cooperate with” after the word
‘from’ and before the word “‘other’’. A perfecting amendment.
9. Page 25, following line 12, add the following new subsection:
(j) Section 7394, title 10, U.S.C., is hereby amended to
read as follows: ‘‘The Secretary of the Navy is authorized
to furnish maps, charts, and other publications and products
of scientific value of the Hydrographic Office without charge
to educational institutions, laboratories, and other public and
private organizations and persons when it is determined that
to furnish such information is in the national interest.”’
The above amendment broadens the usefulness and services of the
Hydrographic Office and the Navy and Defense Departments are to
be commended for recommending its inclusion in the bill. In an
explanatory note in their comments it is stated:
Existing statutes are adequate to cover the furnishing of
such information to commercial interests but they are con-
strued as making impossible the free distribution of material
of scientific value.
The new subsection will make such distribution permissive.
Section 14:
1. Page 26, line 1, after the word ‘‘construction” insert the words
‘“‘research and survey ships which include but shall not be limited to’’,
the remainder of the clause reading ‘“‘nine one thousand two hundred
to one thousand five hundred-ton displacement research ships:”’.
2. Page 26, line 3, after the word ‘“‘ships’”’ change the colon to a
semicolon and delete the remainder of lines 8, all of lines 4, 5 and 6.
This eliminates the provision adopted from the TENOC report which
spaced the construction of these ships over a period of years. As the
Navy has not commenced the construction of ships on the basis pro-
posed in the TENOC report, and in fact had not, until a few days
ago, issued contracts for any of these ships except the 80-foot boat
previously noted, and has now issued contracts for only two ships,
it will be necessary to accelerate the construction program if it is to
meet the expectations of the Office of Naval Research or the Com-
mittee on Oceanography during the next 10 years. In deleting the
proviso above, and elsewhere in this section, it is the hope of the
committee that construction of these needed ships will be expedited
and not further delayed.
3. Page 26, lines 7, 8, 9, and 10, in line 7 delete the words ‘‘for the
construction’’, in line 8 after the word “‘ships” change the colon to a
semicolon and strike the remainder of line 8 and all of lines 9 and 10.
This is in line with the policy explained under numbered paragraph
2 above and has the further effect of consolidating the authorization
for appropriations for construction of Navy research and survey ships.
4. Page 26, line 11, delete “for the construction”’.
5. Page 26, lines 13, 15, and 16, delete in line 13 ‘‘for the construc-
tion’’, and in line 15 after the word ‘‘displacement”’ change the colon
to a semicolon and delete the remainder of that line and all of line 16.
36 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
6. Page 26, line 17, delete “‘for the construction”
rf Page 26, line 19, delete ‘‘for the construction”
With the above changes the bill authorizes to be appropriated to
the Department of the Navy, during the 10-year period beginning
with July 1 of the first fiscal year following approval of this act by the
President, such sums as are necessary to construct the identical ships
specified in the bill prior to amendment, but without a limitation of
the number of ships in any category that may be constructed in any
one year.
This portion of the bill now reads:
for the construction of research and survey ships which in-
clude but shall not be limited to nine one thousand two
hundred to one thousand five hundred tons displacement re-
search ships; of four two thousand to three thousand tons
displacement research ships; two survey ships of approxi-
mately five hundred tons displacement ; five survey ships of
one thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred
tons displacement; three survey ships of two thousand tons
displacement; one research ship of 300 tons displacement.
8. Page 27, line 5, insert after the w ord “for” and before the word
“construction” the following words: “modernization, improvemient,
and expansion of existing shore facilities for basic research and for’.
This amendment is suggested in Navy-Defense Department comments
“to permit flexibility in the utilization of existing facilities,” and
authorized the Navy Department to finance or assist in financing
ealargement and naerovement of existing facilities for basic research
in addition to constr ucting new facilities for that purpose.
9. Page 27, line 8, is amended in a manner identical to the above
and applies to shore facilities for survey work.
10. Page 27, lines 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, insert in line 12 after
the word “r esear elie, the words “ wave measuring equipment, systems
engineering for reduction of data,’’; in line 13 after the word “buoys”
insert the words “for automatic continuous oceanographic recording” ;
in line 14 after the word ‘use’ strike the word ‘ ‘acoustic’ and insert
the words ‘“‘vessel positioning system acoustical equipment and
measuring devices for direct density, turbulence and radioactivity,
and’’; in line 15 delete the words ‘‘cameras and’’, and in line 17 delete
the words “turbulence measuring devices,’ and insert in lieu thereof
the words ‘‘automatic continuous,”’. These amendments broaden
the categories of vehicles, instruments, and devices which are desig-
nated as engineering needs for oceanographic research and surveys
and for which such sums as may be necessary are authorized to be
appropriated in section 14. The added instrumentation reflects not
only some which are in current use but others which are in research or
development stages.
11. Page 27, line 23, after the word “students” insert ‘post-doctoral
fellowships”. This amendment was recommended by the Committee
on Oceanography and the American Society of Limnology and
Oceanography to broaden the scholarship program.
12. Page 28, line 1, after the word ‘‘these”’ insert the words ‘‘scholar-
ships and”’. Suggested by the groups designated above and with the
same object.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT oe
INSERTION OF ADDITIONAL SECTIONS TO BILL
Page 28, line 4, delete after ‘‘Snc.” the numeral ‘'15” and substitute
the numeral ‘'19”’. This section, headed ‘‘General’’ will then follow
sections 15, 16, 17, and 18, to be inserted, as will follow.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
On the recommendation contained in the comments received from
the Department of the Navy and which expresses also the views of the
Department of Defense, 5. 2692 is amended by adding, under the
heading ‘‘Department of the Army,” section 15 and section 16, which
would provide, in effect, for participation of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, through the Beach Erosion Board, in the 10-year compre-
hensive program for development of the marine sciences. The Board
is now engaged in beach erosion work in many States.
The amendments, which are herewith printed in this report,
indicate the broad scope of the activities of the Board in aquatic
sciences in the near-shore areas of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,
the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Sec. 15. The Secretary of the Army is authorized and
directed, with such funds as may be appropriated or other-
wise made available to him, to undertake a ten-year program
of study and research by the United States Army Corps of
Engineers, through the Beach Erosion Board, as part of the
general program for the development of the marine sciences
in the United States. In furtherance of the purposes of this
Act, the Secretary is authorized and directed to carry out,
in addition to programs now under way, the following activi-
ties relating to physical oceanography in the near-shore
areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico,
and the Great Lakes, which areas include the zone from the
shore to the fifty-fathom depth contour in the oceans and
lakes, and bays and tidewaters connected therewith:
a. Request and obtain cooperation from other Govern-
ment agencies having an interest in the marine sciences and
ocean surveys, and cooperate with educational institutions
and laboratories devoted to the marine sciences and ocea-
nography, and with other public and private organizations and
persons who may be of assistance.
b. Contract with qualified scientists, research laboratories,
research organizations, or educational institutions to under-
take basic and applied research studies and experiments in
the laboratories and in coastal waters, in furtherance of the
purposes of this section.
c. Undertake in coastal waters studies of the action of
waves, wave currents, tides, tidal currents, and large-scale
ocean and littoral currents.
d. Study and evaluate the interaction of the atmosphere,
the sea, and the land as they affect the waves, currents, tides,
surges, hydrographic contours, and hydrographic changes in
the coastal zone.
38 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
e. Establish observation stations in coastal waters to
determine the short-term, seasonal, and yearly changes in
waves, currents, and hydrography in the area surrounding
the station.
f. Develop, construct, or acquire instruments and equip-
ment for the furtherance of the program of studies authorized
in this section.
ge. Determine the sources of the bottom materials in the
coastal area, the rates and methods of movement of these
materials, and the effects on the coastal hydrography of
changes in the rate at which these materials reach the coastal
zone.
h. Study the mechanics and effects of density currents
encountered in the coastal area on the current velocities,
current patterns, hydrography, interchange of waters, and
rates of sedimentation.
Sec. 16. In order to carry out the policies of this Act
and of Senate Resolution Numbered 136, Eighty-sixth Con-
gress, and to provide for the participation of the Department
of the Army, including either or both military or civil fune-
tions activities, in the general program for the development
of marine sciences in the United States, there is hereby au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Department of the Army,
during the ten-year period beginning July 1 of the first fiscal
year following approval of this Act, the following sums, not
to exceed $2,000,000 per annum:
a. Such sums as are necessary for the investigations and
activities described in section 15 relating to investigations in
physical oceanography in the near-shore zone.
b. Such sums as are necessary to purchase, develop, or
acquire and operate the scientific equipment required for
investigations in physical oceanography in the near-shore
zone, including but not limited to amphibious craft, floating
craft, fixed platforms, buoys, current meters, wave meters,
tide gages, sound equipment, direct density measuring equip-
ment, turbulence meters, underwater cameras, and under-
water television equipment, and other instruments and
laboratory equipment for oceanographic research in the near-
shore zone.
c. Such sums as are required for expansion and equipping
of shore facilities as are necessary to support the program of
investigations in physical oceanography in the near-shore
zone.
d. Such sums as are necessary to provide funds for con-
tracts with qualified scientists, research laboratories, research
organizations, or educational institutions to make investi-
gations into physical oceanography in the near-shore zone.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
S. 2692 is further amended by the addition of sections 17 and 18
for the purpose of including the Smithsonian Institution in the 10-
year program of comprehensive expansion of the marine sciences
authorized in the bill. The amendments follow:
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Sec. 17. In furtherance of the policies in S. Res. 136,
Eighty-sixth Congress, and of this Act, and in order to pre-
serve, study, and classify marine, coastal, and Great Lakes
organisms collected during the ten-year program of expanded
hydrobiological research, the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution is authorized and directed, with such funds as
may be appropriated or otherwise made available to him, to—
(a) construct additional facilities for the purposes
authorized by this section;
(b) establish a program for the recruitment, training,
and placement of taxonomists in such number as may
be required to classify fishes and marine invertebrates
collected during the ten-year program of expanded
hydrobiological research;
(c) make grants of funds to qualified scientists, insti-
tutions, laboratories, or museums, such grants to be
used for taxonomy relating to marine organisms;
(d) request and obtain cooperation from and cooperate
with other governmental departments and agencies
having a direct interest in the preservation, study and
classification of marine organisms, and to cooperate with
the several States, educational institutions, laboratories,
museums, and other public and private organizations
and persons who may be of assistance in this field of
marine science.
Sec. 18. It is necessary in order to carry out the policies
of S. Res. No. 136, Eighty-sixth Congress, and of this Act
to have the Smithsonian Institution carry out, under laws
relating to such Institution, specified duties as part of the
general program for the development of the marine sciences
in the United States. Appropriations authorized in this
section shall be in addition to other appropriations pro-
vided for such Institution to carry out its duties under
law. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the
Smithsonian Institution, during the ten-year period be-
ginning with July 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after
the date of enactment of this Act following approval of this
Act by the President, the following sums:
(a) Such sums as may be necessary for the construction
by the Institution of facilities necessary to preserve, study,
and classify for taxonomic purposes marine, coastal and
Great Lakes organisms collected by or for the Institution
during the ten-year program of expanded hydrobiological
research.
(b) Such sums as are necessary for establishment by the
Institution of a program for the recruitment, training and
placement of taxonomists required for the purposes of this
section.
(c) Such sums as are necessary for use by the Institution
under the authority conveyed in section 17(c).
(d) Such sums as are necessary for the preservation,
study and classification by the Institution of fishes and
39
4O MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
marine invertebrates collected or acquired by the Institution
for taxonomic purposes.
The purpose of sections 17 and 18 is to assure, in the interest of a
balanced program, that facilities and adequately trained personnel
be provided, in the appropriate centralized Federal institution, for
scientific study and classification of specimens of marine life to be
collected or acquired during the 10-year program of biological research
authorized in the act.
Present facilities and personnel for taxonomy in the marine biological
field at the Smithsonian Institution and Museum of Natural History
are inadequate not only for collections of specimens which would be
acquired during the 10-year program of comprehensive ocean re-
search, but for present collections at the Institution.
The amendments have been suggested by a number of scientific
institutions, including the Academy of Natural Sciences in Phila-
delphia, the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, and the
Pacific Marine Station of the College of the Pacific, and have been
concurred in by the Committee on Oceanography.
GENERAL
1. Page 28, line 3 retains the heading “General” over the final
section of the bill.
2. Page 28, line 4, after “Src.” strike the numeral “15” and insert
in heu thereof the numeral ‘19”’’.
3. Amend the section after line 18 by adding a new section to
read as follows
(c) All agreements for grants executed pursuant to the au-
thority contained in this Act in excess of $50,000 shall contain
a provision that the Comptroller General of the United
States or his duly authorized representatives shall have the
right to examine any directly pertinent books, documents,
papers, and records of the grantee relating to the purpose of
the grant for a period of three years after the last payment to
the grantee under the grant.
This provision is in accordance with other statutes relating to
Federal grants.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to advance the marine sciences, to establish a compre-
hensive ten-year program of oceanographic research and
surveys, to promote commerce and navigation, to secure the
national defense, to expand ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes
resources, to authorize the construction of research and sur-
vey ships and facilities, to assure systematic studies of effects
of radioactive materials i in marine environments, to enhance
the general welfare, and for other purposes.
The words ‘‘coastal, and Great Lakes’”’ have been added as making
more specific the scope of the program and the inclusion of these
waters and their contents in the research and surveys authorized.
Your committee urges enactment of this legislation, which will
enable the United States to meet the challenge of Soviet Russia or
any other foreign nation in the fields of marine science.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT Al
The complete text of the departmental reports on S. 2692 follow:
EXxcuTiIve OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT,
BurEAU OF THE BUDGET,
Washington, D.C., April 13, 1960.
Hon. Warren G. Macnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
Washington, D.C.
My Dear Mr. CuarrMANn: This is in response to an informal request
by committee staff for the views on S. 2692, a bill to advance the
marine sciences, to establish a comprehensive 10-year program of
oceanographic research and surveys; to promote commerce and navi-
gation, to secure the national defense; to expand ocean resources; to
authorize the construction of research and survey ships and facilities;
to assure systematic studies of effects of radioactive materials in
marine environments; to enhance the general welfare; and for other
purposes.
While recognizing the merit of strengthening the marine sciences,
the Bureau has serious reservations about the necessity and advisa-
bility of enacting S. 2692.
As far as we can determine the various agencies engaged in or
supporting research in the marine sciences already have adequate
legislative authority to continue or expand their work in this field.
Accordingly, we believe that the enactment of S. 2692 to be unnec-
essary.
We are further concerned over the general approach which the bill
takes in authorizing specific sums of money for various activities and
programs of the Federal agencies engaged in the marine sciences.
No field of science remains static. In this day and age there is a
constant need for review of scientific requirements and redirection of
research programs. It does not seem advisable, therefore, to earmark
dollar amounts for specific agency activities or to delineate the com-
position of scientific activities in detail as S. 2692 undertakes to do.
We recognize the interest of the committee in seeking to strengthen
the marine sciences. However, such strengthening not only can take
place under existing authority but is already underway as reflected
in the 1961 budget. In the budget message, the President specifically
refers to the steps being taken to augment Federal support of the
marine sciences since the report of the National Academy of Sciences
on this subject. The budget provides for a substantial increase in
Federal expenditures in this field, from $38 million in 1960 to $56
million in 1961, exclusive of certain military expenditures related to
survey work in oceanography. We believe this gives appropriate
recognition to the special needs of oceanography and the marine
sciences for additional support from Federal agencies, and that to-
gether with increased aid from private sources, it should permit a
significant expansion of research in these fields.
For the reasons given above, the Bureau would oppose enactment
of S. 2692.
Sincerely yours,
Puitire S. HucHEs,
Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.
42 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE,
Washington, D.C., May 23, 1960.
Hon. Warren G. Maenuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. CuarrMan: This letter is in reply to your request of
September 17, 1959, for the views of this Department with respect to
S. 2692, a bill to advance the marine sciences, to establish a compre-
hensive 10-year program of oceanographic research and surveys; to
promote commerce and navigation, to secure the national defense; to
expand ocean resources; to authorize the construction of research and
survey ships and facilities; to assure systematic studies of effects of
radioactive materials In marine environments; to enhance the general
welfare; and for other purposes.
The law when enacted would be cited as the ‘‘Marine Sciences and
Research Act of 1959.”
The bill would declare that systematic, scientific studies and surveys
of the oceans and ocean floor and other data concerning the seas, and
the education and training of oceanographic scientists are vital to
defense and commerce, and that there must be a coordinated long-
range program of oceanographic research. A Division of Marine
Sciences would be established in the National Science Foundation
which would include representation from Government agencies which
have responsibilities related to oceanography, and oceanographic scien-
tists associated with universities, laboratories, or foundations. The
Division would be directed to (1) develop and encourage a continuing
national policy and program for the promotion of oceanographic re-
search, (2) recommend financial and other assistance for the program,
(3) cooperate with and encourage the cooperation of other Govern-
ment agencies dealing with problems related to the seas, (4) foster
the interchange of information among marine scientists, and (5) evalu-
ate the scientific aspects of programs of research and surveys of Federal
agencies, universities, and institutions receiving assistance from the
Federal Government for oceanographic and fisheries research and
ocean surveys. Representatives of the Coast and Geodetic Survey
and the Maritime Administration would be included among the mem-
bership of the Division of Marine Sciences.
The functions of various Federal agencies related to marine sciences
and research would be directed to be utilized for the purposes of the
bill and additional appropriations for specific purposes would be
authorized.
The Department of Commerce supports the objectives of the bill
and to the extent funds are made available is now carrying out certain
phases of the program contemplated by the bill. However, the
Department already has adequate legislative authority for programs
in oceanography and therefore would not consider enactment of S.
2692 necessary to achieve these objectives insofar as the Department
is concerned.
If, however, favorable consideration is given S. 2692 the Department
of Commerce would have the following suggestions to offer regarding
the provisions of the proposed bill.
A coordinating body already exists in the Federal Council for
Science and Technology and its recently established subcommittee is
known as the “Interagency Committee on Oceanography,” conse-
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT A3
quently, there appears to be no need to create a Division of Marine
Sciences in the National Science Foundation.
Section 4 of the bill would authorize the appropriation of $3 million
to the National Science Foundation for the provision of fellowsh ps to
graduate students training to become professional oceanographers.
This Department believes there are sufficient existing programs to
train needed oceanographers and that the provision for fellowships in
section 4 is therefore not necessary. The National Science Foundation
provided 2,150 graduate fellowships to all sciences on a nationally
competitive basis in fiscal 1960. In addition, the Foundation encour-
ages students to enter the field of oceanography through their visiting
scientists program, undergraduate research participation program,
and summer training for secondary school students program. Univer-
sities and students can obtain funds for this type of training under the
National Defense Education Act. Federal agencies can, in addition,
provide training and education at the undergraduate and graduate
level under the Government Employee Training Act.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Subcommittee on
Oceanography, it is recommended that a National Oceanographic
Records Center should be established at the Suitland offices of the
Navy Hydrographic Office. This would be preferable to establishing
such a center in the Department of Commerce, as is provided in
section 7(b) of the bill. The Hydrographic Office already has such
a center with data from approximately 300,000 oceanographic stations
amounting to 4,800,000 lines of punchcard data. New data are being
fed into this deck at a rate of about 61,500 items per year. Hstablish-
ing a new center as proposed by the bill would duplicate existing
personnel, data, and machines. It is suggested, in addition, that the
center should be jointly funded and operated by the Navy, Coast and
Geodetic Survey, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and the National
Science Foundation.
_ Itis also requested that the following proviso be inserted at the end
of section 7(b): “Provided: That this Center shall not duplicate the
work of the National Weather Records Center’’.
Line 9, page 15, of section 7(e) should be amended by adding the
phrase ‘‘and matter’? between the words “energy” and ‘“between’’.
The Department believes that the provisions of section 7(f) should
only require the Maritime Administration to construct ships when
requested by other Government agencies. Consequently, the follow-
ing provisions should be substituted for the matter in section 7(f),
line 17, page 15, to line 8, page 16, inclusive.
“(f) Require that the Maritime Administration, when requested
by other agencies of the Federal Government—
“(1) Construct, on a reimbursable basis, such oceanographic
research ships as may be required by such agencies;
(2) Design or arrange for the design, and supervise the con-
struction of such ships; and
(3) Undertake research and development for oceanographic
research ships of unusual or novel design.”
Deletion of section 8(a) and rewording of section 8(b) is recom-
mended to authorize support of the records center by the Coast and
Geodetic Survey in the amount of not more than $80,000 per annum.
This is in accordance with the recommendation made above and of
the Subcommittee on Oceanography.
44. MARINE. SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
Section 8(c) should be amended to provide for at least six 2,000-ton
ships with one each of the smaller types to conform with the opinion
of the Subcommittee on Oceanography and this Department that
ocean surveys of the type envisioned cannot be performed. efficiently
by the smaller ships.
The third function in section 8(d) lines 22 to 24, inclusive, page 17,
should be denominated subsection (e) and amended to read as follows:
‘““(e) Such sums as are necessary for the establishment and opera-
tion by the Weather Bureau of a ten-year study of the interchange of
energy and matter between the oceans and the atmosphere.”’
An additional function should be added to section 8(d) reading as
follows: ‘ * * * for the conduct jointly with the Navy, of a syste-
matic and expanded program of three-dimensional ocean surveys
including measurements or studies of depths, salinity, temperatures,
current velocity, wave motion, magnetism, and biological. activity.”
Both this Department and the Navy believe the above amendment
is necessary to assure joint effort on large projects and thus obviate
military classification and military orientation.
The Department recommends that the proviso lines 20 to 25 in-
clusive, page 19 of section 11, should be amended by substitution of a
comma for the period at the end of the sentence on line 25 and adding
“but this proviso shall not authorize the Atomic Energy Commission
to duplicate functions of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the field of
water circulation.”
It is recommended that the provisions of section 13(g), lines 18 to 21,
inclusive, page 24, be amended to conform to the amendment recom-
mended above in section 8(d) with respect to joint Navy-Coast and
Geodetic Survey projects.
With the above recommended modifications it is estimated that the
total program for this Department would approximate $112 million
over the 10-year program period.
The Bureau of the Budget advises there is no objection to the sub-
mission of this report to your committee.
Sincerely yours,
Pururp A. Ray,
Under Secretary of Commerce.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
OrricE oF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS,
Washington, D.C., April 19, 1960.
Hon. Warren G. Macnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
My Dear Mr. CuHatrman: Your request for comments on S. 2692,
a bill to advance the marine sciences, to establish a comprehensive
10-year program of oceanographic research and surveys; to promote
commerce and navigation, to secure the national defense; to expand
ocean resources; to authorized the construction of research and survey
ships and facilities; to assure systematic studies of effects of radio-
active materials in marine environments; to enhance the general
welfare; and for other purposes, has been assigned to this Department
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESHARCH. ACT 45
by the Secretary of Defense for the preparation of a report thereon
expressing the views of the Department of Defense.
The purpose of S. 2692 is as stated in the title.
While the Department of Defense concurs in the objectives of this
bill, it does not consider enactment of S. 2692 necessary to achieve
these objectives. In general, the agencies of the Department already
have adequate legislative authority to continue and expand research
in the marine sciences. In this connection it should be noted that
the expenditures of the Navy for oceanography are expected to increase
from $17 million in 1960 to $23 million in 1961. For the Government
as a whole expenditures will increase from $38 million in 1960 to $56
million in 1961. ;
If, however, favorable consideration is given to S. 2692 the Depart-
ment of Defense would have the following suggestions to offer regard-
ing the provisions of such proposed enactment:
Sections 2 and 3 of the bill propose to establish a division of Marine
Sciences in the National Science Foundation in which there is an
interagency committee ostensibly to develop and encourage continuing
national policy and program for the promotion of oceanography.
The establishment of such a division should be based on the needs and
desires of the Foundation. It does not seem appropriate, however, to
extend the National Science Foundation’s authority into applied
research activities, the establishment of which the proposed Division
might authorize. The National Science Foundation should continue
to support basic research and programs to strengthen scientific research
potential in all of the sciences including specialized fields such as
oceanography which may from time to time require particular em-
hasis.
The Subcommittee on Oceanography of the Federal Council for
Science and Technology has proposed that under the Federal Council
a permanent interagency committee be established to exercise program
control and coordination of the national oceanography program. The
subcommittee, as a precedent for this form of management, has
demonstrated its effectiveness in the 6 months of its existence.
Section 7 of the bill provides for the establishment within the
Department of Commerce of a National Oceanographic Records
Center. The Subcommittee on Oceanography has recommended, and
it is generally accepted in the scientiic community as being more
appropriate, that the National Oceanographic Data Center be estab-
lished at the Hydrographic Office with joint policy guidance and
financial support to be provided by the Navy, the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the National Science
Foundation, and the Atomic Energy Commission. This permits the
utilization of existing facilities, equipment, and personnel. The ex-
pansion of the present physical plant can be more rapidly accomplished
and at considerably less expense than the establishment of a second
installation.
It is recommended that provision be made for such joint policy
guidance and financial support as is necessary to insure that all of the
Federal requirements are fulfilled. This can be accomplished by
revision of section 6 to provide for participation and financial support
of a National Oceanographic Records Center by the Bureau of Com-
mercial Fisheries, and revision of sections 8(a) and 8(b) to provide
for similar support and participation by the Coast and Geodetic
Survey.
46 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
The Navy’s research program, TENOC, for 10 years in oceanog-
raphy, is recognized as the cornerstone of the national program.
TENOC is now being revised to include all phases of oceanography
such as research, development, surveys, and long-range requirements.
for ship and facility construction. It, therefore, appears appropriate
that the portion of section 14 relating to ship construction should be
worded in general terms similar to the provision calling for the con-
struction of new shore facilities. The Navy oceanographic ship-
building program should be developed within Navy and approved by
Congress as a portion of the Navy’s total shipbuilding program in
accordance with established procedures.
It is noted that the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
is not included in 8. 2692. This Department is contributing to ocean-
ography with studies of radioactivity in the oceans and could also
participate in an educational program which is essential to train the
manpower required for an expansion of the national effort in ocean-
ography. Further legislative authority is not needed by this
Department, we understand.
ursuant to sections 426—426h of title 33 of the United States Code,
the Department of the Army, through the Chief of Engineers and the
Beach Erosion Board, has a primary interest in near-shore oceanog-
raphy and the interaction between the oceans and the land (shore and
near-shore bottom). In order that this interest may be given recog-
nition, 1t is recommended that the following revisions be made in
S. 2692:
In the fourth line of the title, add ‘“‘and coastal’ after ‘ocean’’.
On page 3, line 17, and page 8, line 16, after ‘‘buoys,” add “‘instru-
mented marine towers, wave gages,’’.
On page 6, line 1, after “Standards,” add ‘‘the United States Army
Corps of Engineers (including the Beach Erosion Board),”’.
On page 7, line 13, after ““Administration,”’ add ‘‘the Beach Erosion
Board of the United States Army Corps of Engineers,”’.
On page 28, insert the following new heading and new sections 15
and 16 and renumber present general section 15 as section 17:
“DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
“Src. 15. The Secretary of the Army is authorized and directed,
with such funds as may be appropriated or otherwise made available
to him, to undertake a ten-year program of study and research by
the United States Army Corps of Engineers, through the Beach Ero-
sion Board, as part of the general program for the development of the
marine sciences in the United States. In furtherance of the purposes
of this Act, the Secretary is authorized and directed to carry out, in
addition to programs now under way, the following activities relating
to physical oceanography in the near-shore areas of the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes, which areas
include the zone from the shore to the 50-fathom depth contour in the
oceans and lakes, and bays and tidewaters connected therewith:
“a. Request and obtain cooperation from other Government
agencies having an interest in the marine sciences and ocean surveys,
and cooperate with educational institutions and laboratories devoted
to the marine sciences and oceanography, and with other public and
private organizations and persons who may be of assistance.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT AT
“bh. Contract with qualified scientists, research laboratories, re-
search organizations, or educational institutions to undertake basic
and applied research studies and experiments in the laboratories and
in coastal waters, in furtherance of the purposes of this section.
“ec, Undertake in coastal waters studies of the action of waves, wave
currents, tides, tidal currents, and large-scale ocean and _ littoral
currents.
“d. Study and evaluate the interaction of the atmosphere, the sea,
and the land as they affect the waves, currents, tides, surges, hydro-
graphic contours, and hydrographic changes in the coastal zone.
“e. Establish observation stations in coastal waters to determine
the short-term, seasonal, and yearly changes in waves, currents, and
hydrography in the area surrounding the station.
“f. Develop, construct, or acquire instruments and equipment for
the furtherance of the program of studies authorized in this Section.
“ox, Determine the sources of the bottom materials in the coastal
area, the rates and methods of movement of these materials, and the
effects on the coastal hydrography of changes in the rate at which
these materials reach the coastal zone.
“th. Study the mechanics and effects of density currents encountered
in the coastal area on the current velocities, current patterns, hydrog-
raphy, interchange of waters, and rates of sedimentation.
“Src. 16. In order to carry out the policies of this Act and of S.
Res. 136, 86th Congress, and to provide for the participation of the
Department of the Army, including either or both military or civil
functions activities, in the general program for the development of
marine sciences in the United States, there is hereby authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of the Army, during the ten-year
period beginning July 1 of the first fiscal year following approval of
this Act, the following sums, not to exceed $2,000,000 per annum:
‘“‘a. Such sums as are necessary for the investigations and activities
described in section 15 relating to investigations in physical oceanog-
raphy in the near-shore zone.
‘“‘b. Such sums as are necessary to purchase, develop, or acquire and
operate the scientific equipment required for investigations in physical
oceanography in the near-shore zone, including but not hmited to
amphibious craft, floating craft, fixed platforms, buoys, current
meters, wave meters, tide gages, sound equipment, direct density
measuring equipment, turbulence meters, underwater cameras, and
underwater television equipment, and other instruments and labora-
tory equipment for oceanographic research in the near-shore zone.
‘““c. Such sums as are required for expansion and equipping of shore
facilities as are necessary to support the program of investigations 1n
physical oceanography in the near-shore zone.
“‘d. Such sums as are necessary to provide funds for contracts with
qualified scientists, research laboratories, research organizations, or
educational institutions to make investigations into physical oceanog-
raphy in the near-shore zone.”’
In addition to the foregoing, it is reeommended that the following
specific changes be made in S. 2692:
Page 3, line 4, after the word “‘research”’ insert ‘‘and marine sur-
veys’’. This is suggested as being more descriptive of the provisions
of S. 2692.
48 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
Page 3, line 6, change lines 6 and 7 to read, “‘the National Academy
of Sciences-National Research Council. This program should include;
but not be limited to the—’’.
Page 3, lines 11-13, substitute: “modernization of existing and
construction of new Government and civilian laboratory and shore
facilities adequate to service and supplement the research and survey
fleets;’. This is suggested to permit flexibility in the utilization of
existing facilities.
Page 3, lines 15 and 16, change to read: ‘research tools, devices,
instruments, and techniques which may include but not be limited to
bathyscaphs and other manned’.
Page 3, line 25, change to read: “among undergraduate students of
mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry,’’.
Page 4, line 22: It is recommended that the Federal Council for
Science and Technology establish the interagency mechanism for
management of the national program in oceanography vice the
establishment of a division within the National Science Foundation
for this purpose. The functions of this management mechanism
should be similar to the duties and responsibilities outlined for the
Division of Marine Sciences in 8. 2692.
Page 10, line 16, change to read:
‘““(9) Request and obtain cooperation from and cooperate with
other gov-”’.
Page 12, line 13, change to read: “or procuring facilities for such
studies which may include but not”’.
Page 14, paragraph (b): It is recommended that this paragraph
be deleted and that formal recognition and support be given the
Hydrographic Office as the National Oceanographic Records Center
by revision of sections 13 and 14. It is further recommended that
provisions be made for such joint policy guidance and financial support
as is necessary to insure that all of the Federal requirements are
fulfilled.
Page 16, line 6, change to read: “‘oceangoing scientific ships, with
preference given to such agencies and”’.
Page 22, line 13, substitute ‘‘basic” for ‘‘basis”’.
Page 22, line 20: To provide greater flexibility and to be con-
sistent with the general authority of the Office of Naval Research,
the following is suggested as a substitute for lines 20-22: ‘Provide
funds by contract or otherwise to scientists, Government and non-
Government research laboratories or institutions in furtherance of
the purposes of this Act, such funds to be used for basic and applied
research, the purchase of equipment,”’.
Page 23, line 3, following ‘‘basic’”’ insert ‘and appled’”’. This
suggestion is offered as being descriptive of existing authority.
Page 23, lines 12 and 13, following ‘ laboratories” substitute “and
provide related instruments and equipment to support effectively the
expanded program of basic and applied oceanographic research and
hydrographic”. This suggestion is for completeness and accuracy.
Page 23, lines 17 and 18, change to read: ‘‘vehicles for ocean
research and exploration, which may include but not be limited to
bathyscaphs and other manned submersibles,”’.
Page 24, lines 3 and 4, change to read: ‘‘(e) Continue and expand
the Navy’s support of marine studies substantially as proposed in
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT AQ
project TENOC or the Navy’s revised long-range oceanography
program’’.
Pages 24 and 25, paragraphs (h) and (1). As a positive means of
implementing the authority contained in these provisions, it is recom-
mended that section 13 of S. 2692 include a provision to amend section
7394, title 10, United States Code, by adding: ‘‘The Secretary of the
Navy is authorized to furnish maps, charts, and other publications and
products of scientific value of the Hydrographic Office without charge
to educational institutions, laboratories, and other public and private
organizations and persons when it is determined that to furnish such
information is in the national interest.”
Existing statutes are adequate to cover the furnishing of such
information to commercial interests but they are construed as making
impossible the free distribution of material of scientific value.
Page 25, line 7, change to read: ‘‘(1) Request and obtain cooperation
from and cooperate with other govern-’’.
Page 26, lines 1-20: It is recommended that the portion of this
section relating to ship construction be worded in general terms similar
to line 5, page 27, for the construction of new shore facilities.
Page 27, line 5: Change to read: “for modernization, improvement,
and expansion of existing shore facilities for basic research and for
construction of new shore facilities for basic’’.
Page 27, line 8: Change to read: “for modernization, improvement,
and expansion of existing shore facilities for survey work and for
construction of new shore facilities for survey’’.
Page 27, line 10: It is recommended that the following substitution
be made for the present language beginning on line 10 and extending
through line 21. The substitution is offered for consistency with
authority granted elsewhere in 8. 2692 and in some instances reflects
instrumentation already in use or in research and development stages
under the cognizance of the Department of the Navy: ‘for engineering
needs for ocean exploration and research which may include bathy-
scaphs and other manned submersibles to be used for research, wave
measuring equipment, systems engineering for reduction of data,
manned and unmanned buoys for automatic continuous oceanographic
recording, ice breakers and submarines modified or converted for
scientific use, vessel positioning system, acoustical equipment and
telemetering devices, current meters, measuring devices for direct
density, turbulence and radioactivity, and underwater television,
seismic equipment, automatic continuous biological sampling devices,
precision salinometers, precision echo sounders, towed temperature
recorders, magnetometers, and other instruments and laboratory
equipment for oceanographic research; and’’.
This report has been coordinated within the Department of Defense
in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
The Department of the Navy has been advised by the Bureau of the
Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report on
S. 2692 to the Congress.
Sincerely yours,
F. A. Bantz,
Under Secretary of the Navy
(For the Secretary of the Navy).
50 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
DEPARTMENT OF HeautH, EpucaTION, AND WELFARE,
May 17, 1960.
Hon. WarrEN G. MaGnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. CuarrMan: This letter is in response to your request for
a report on S. 2692, a bill to advance the marine sciences, to establish
a comprehensive 10-year program of oceanographic research and sur-
veys; to promote commerce and navigation, to secure the national
defense; to expand ocean resources; to authorize the construction of
research and survey ships and facilities; to assure systematic studies
of effects of radioactive materials in marine environments; to enhance
the general welfare; and for other purposes.
The bill seeks to carry out the policy expressed in Senate Resolu-
tion 136, agreed to on July 15, 1959, which, inter alia, commended to
the President and to interested agencies the report of the Committee
on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences-National
Research Council, and concurred in a number of recommendations
of that Committee which would result in the expansion of basic and
applied oceanographic research (in part through the construction of
shore facilities), the training of additional oceanographic scientists,
the conduct of certain ocean surveys, a revamping and expansion of
the Nation’s oceanographic research fleet, an investigation of the ef-
fects of radioactivity in oceans, and numerous related programs.
With respect to the desirability of the bill as a whole, we defer to
the views of the departments and agencies most closely affected by it.
The following discussion concerns itself only with those portions of
the bill that most closely affect the program interests of this De-
partment.
Section 4(f) of the bill would authorize an appropriation of $3
million to the National Science Foundation for a 10-year program of
fellowships for graduate students training to become professional
oceanographers.
It should be noted that, under title IV of the National Defense
Education Act of 1958, the Commissioner of Education is authorized
to award 1,000 fellowships during fiscal year 1959, and 1,500 during
each of the 3 succeeding years. These fellowships can be awarded for
graduate study in any field for periods of study not in excess of 3
academic years.
The National Science Foundation has at present two fellowship
programs for graduate students—predoctoral fellowships and coopera-
tive graduate fellowships. The program of predoctoral fellowships
is designed to offer support to unusually able students to enable them
to complete their graduate studies with the least possible delay. The
cooperative graduate fellowship program differs from the predoctoral
fellowship program in that institutions would, in effect, receive funds
for fellowship support for individual graduate students of science,
mathematics, and engineering whom they have recommended. The
Foundation has offered from fiscal year 1959 funds, about 1,000 fellow-
ships under each of these two programs.
The Foundation has broad authority to initiate and support basic
scientific research and programs to strengthen scientific research
potential. It can now award fellowships for oceanography as part of
its broad programs for granting fellowships in a variety of fields to
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 51
individuals possessing the greatest scientific talent. Moreover, the
Foundation can use its authority to make grants in support of basic
scientific research to give additional impetus to the development of
those sciences, such as oceanography, for which there is a critical need.
From the standpoint of our own program interests, we believe that
it is generally more advisable to support graduate study on a broad
base than to emphasize the support of a single field. We understand,
however, that the National Science Foundation, in recognition of the
need for increased attention to the support of research in ocean-
ography, has added a full-time oceanographer to its program on earth
sciences, and has taken other measures to foster oceanographic re-
research and the training of research workers. However, with respect
to the Foundation, the bill would not provide the Foundation with
legislative authority beyond that which it already possesses.
Section 9 of the bill would direct the Secretary “to undertake a
ten-year program of obtaining new faculty in oceanography and
marine sciences * * *,”’ and in furtherance of the purposes of the
bill would authorize him to ‘provide assistance through the Office
of Education in the form of teacher salaries and equipment.”’
With respect to the fellowship program under title IV of the Na-
tional Defense Education Act of 1958, mentioned previously, the
award of a fellowship may be made only for study in a graduate pro-
gram that, in the acceptance for persons for study, gives preference
to students interested in teaching in institutions of higher education.
As with graduate study, the role of this Department should be one
of encouraging and assisting institutions of higher education to
expand and improve their capacity for training teachers in all fields
rather than one of promoting the teaching of a single specialty.
However, teacher training in the sciences is supported by the National
Science Foundation through grants to educational institutions to
conduct institutes to assist elementary, secondary, and undergraduate
teachers to improve their knowledge of science. We understand
that, through this program, grant funds have been made available
for institutes to train teachers in fields related to oceanography,
as well as for other specialized institutes.
Section 2 of the bill, entitled ‘Declaration of Policy,” declares
that “a coordinated, long-range program of oceanographic research
requires establishment of a Division of Marine Sciences in the Na-
tional Science Foundation * * * which Division shall * * * co-
operate with’, inter alia, 11 named Federal agencies’? and other
Government agencies dealing with problems related to the seas’’.
Section 3(b) would establish such a Division, providing that it ‘‘shall
include among its membership a representative from the Office of
Naval Reasearch, the Hydrographic Office, the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the Atomic Energy
Commission, [and] the Maritime Administration * * *”, 6 of the
11 Government agencies that are mentioned under section 2.
With respect to the desirability of creating such a Division, we de-
fer to the National Science Foundation. However, if these sections
are to be retained, we believe that section 3(b) should be amended to
include the Public Health Service as a member of the Division, and
that section 2 of the bill be amended to make specific reference to
the Service.
The Public Health Service interest in oceanography is broadly
fourfold:
52 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
1. The importance of the vast estuarine and inshore ocean waters
and areas as a future major resource for municipal, industrial, and
recreational water supplies.
2. The use of estuarine and inshore ocean waters as the final place
of disposal for municipal and industrial wastes of rapidly increasing
complexity and amounts, and the effects thereon.
3. The use of selected areas in the open ocean for the disposal of
radioactive wastes, and the berthing of nuclear-powered ships in
estuarine and inshore ocean waters.
4. The use of the ocean fishery resources as it relates to the health
of the people of the United States, and the health of the populations
in the underdeveloped countries of the world that this Nation is
aiding.
The Public Health Service participates in oceanographic studies
through the following mechanisms:
1. Consultation and technical services to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers on a reimbursable basis on problems relating to pollution
of inshore and estuarine waters from municipal and industrial wastes.
2. Consultation and technical services to the Atomic Energy
Commission and the Maritime Administration on a reimbursable
basis to develop optimized harbor and estuarine surveillance pro-
cedures for radioactive contamination and research on radioactivity
in estuarine and marine waters.
3. Consultation to State water pollution control agencies on specific
problems of potential radiation contamination and chemical pollution
of estuarine and onshore ocean waters; also, problems involving dis-
posal of municipal and industrial wastes.
4. Close working relationships with the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Chesapeake
Bay Institute, and other oceanographic research institutions on prob-
lems relating to pollution.
5. Membership on the interdepartmental coordinating Committee
on Oceanography.
6. Research grants supporting oceanographic research in the amount
of $120,000 for the fiscal year 1960.
On August 22 the President directed that the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare ‘intensify its radiological health
efforts and have primary responsibility within the executive branch
for the collation, analysis, and interpretation of data on environmental
radiation levels * * * so that the Secretary * * * may advise the
President and the general public.”
In order to carry out this directive, the Department has directed
that Public Health Service assume responsibility, inter alia, for the
operation of monitoring and sampling networks to determined the
degree of radioactivity present in water, and for the development of
recommendations pertaining to acceptable levels of exposure to radio-
activity from water.
In view of these responsibilities, we believe that the Department,
through the Public Health Service, is capable of making a consider-
able contribution to any expanded program of oceanographic research.
The Bureau of the Budget advises that it perceives no objection
to the submission of this report to your committee.
Sincerely yours,
Burrna 8S. Apxkrins, Acting Secretary.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT JD
CoMPpTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES,
Washington, November 17, 1959.
Hon. Warren G. Macnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. Senate.
Dear Mr. Cuarrman: Further reference is made to your letter
dated September 17, 1959, acknowledged on September 21, requesting
the comments of the General Accounting Office concerning 8. 2692,
86th Congress, Ist session, entitled ‘“‘A bill to advance the marine
sciences, to establish a comprehensive 10-year program of ocea-
nographic research and surveys; to promote commerce and navigation,
to secure the national defense; to expand ocean resources; to authorize
the construction of research and survey ships and facilities; to assure
systematic studies of effects of radioactive materials in marine en-
vironments; to enhance the general welfare; and for other purposes.’
In the consideration of the bill, we recommend the following
corrections and clarifications:
The reference in line 5, page 15, to “the preceding item (a)”’ appar-
ently was intended to read ‘“‘the preceding item (c).”
Section 7(f) directs the Maritime Administration to construct ships
of designated tonnage. However, section 8 does not authorize any
additional appropriation to the Administration for this purpose. If
it is intended that other funds are to be used for this purpose, it is
recommended that the bill so state. Also, it is not clear whether the
ships required to be constructed by section 7(f) are in addition to
ships authorized to be constructed by other sections of the bill.
Section 8(d) does not place any limitation on the cost of operating
new Coast and Geodetic Survey ships, while an annual limitation is
imposed on the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries by section 6(b) and
on the Navy by section 14. We do not know whether this was an
oversight or was intentional.
The last sentence of section 10 states “‘Appropriations authorized in
this section shall be in addition to other appropriations provided for
such Department or Office to carry out its duties under law.” How-
ever, we are unable to ascertain where any appropriation has been
authorized in such section.
We also recommend that a general provision be included in the bill
to the effect that all agreements for grants in excess of a specified
amount; e.g., $50,000, contain a provision that the Comptroller
General of the United States or his duly authorized representatives
shall have the right to examine any directly pertinent books, docu-
ments, papers, and records, of the grantee relating to the purpose of
the grant, for a period of 3 years after the last payment under the
grant.
We recognize that the question whether legislation of this type is
necessary is strictly a matter of policy for determination of the
Congress, on which we express no opinion. However, we would
suggest that the matters hereinabove set forth be given serious
consideration by your committee in its deliberations on the bill.
Sincerely yours,
JOSEPH CAMPBELL,
Comptroller General of the United States.
54 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Washington, D.C., May 16, 1960.
Hon. Warren G. MaGnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
Dear Senator Maanuson: Your committee has requested a report
on 5. 2692, a bill to advance the marine sciences, to establish a com-
prehensive 10-year program of oceanographic research and surveys;
to promote commerce and navigation; to secure the national defense;
to expand ocean resources; to authorize the construction of research
and survey ships and facilities; to assure systematic studies of effects
of radioactive materials in marine environments; to enhance the gen-
eral welfare; and for other purposes.
We are now actively engaged in carrying out certain types of ocean-
ographic research. Therefore, while the Department of the Interior
concurs in the objectives of this bill, we now have authority to carry
on oceanographic research and do not believe the enactment of 8S. 2692
is necessary at this time.
S. 2692 is designed to implement the recommendations of the
National Academy of Sciences for increased research in oceanography,
as defined in their report “Oceanography 1960 to 1970.” That report
outlines a proposed national program in this field.
A generally recognized need for more knowledge about the oceans
and aquatic resources has received much attention within and outside
the Government. The National Academy of Sciences in preparing its
report, obtained the advice of the Nation’s experts on the marine
sciences. Their report indicates that the Nation would benefit if
oceanographic research is expanded over the next 10 years. We con-
cur in this opinion. In addition to the prospective benefits to naviga-
tion, national defense, and atomic energy development, improvements
in the supply, quality, harvesting and use of seafoods and sea resources,
improved sport fishing and recreational use of the ocean will result
from such expanded research.
We believe it will be of interest to note that the program of research
recommended by the National Academy of Sciences was submitted
initially for examination and study to the Federal Council for Science
and Technology that was established by the President. That Council
appointed a special subcommittee to evaluate the proposal. This sub-
committee recommended adoption of the program suggested by the
National Academy of Sciences with certain modifications that were
considered to be administratively and operationally feasible. The re-
vised program has been adopted by the various governmental depart-
ments, as reflected by their individual programs and budgets for the
fiscal year 1961.
This Department, as a result of the program recommended by the
Federal Council for Science and Technology, now has an item of
$2,055,000 for the construction of an oceanographic research vessel in
its fiscal year 1961 budget for the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.
That Bureau for some time has been actively engaged in research in
the field of oceanography. Similarly, the Geological Survey of this
Department is stepping up its activities in this field, as indicated by
the fact that there has been a 50-percent increase, from $400,000 to
$600,000 for this kind of research. The Bureau of Sport Fisheries
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 55
and Wildlife, and the Bureau of Mines of this Department also have
important interests in this field. This Department has made signi-
ficant contributions to the marine sciences and has a nucleus of scien-
tific competence and facilities that forms a sound basis for further
contributions that we expect to make to this important national
program.
In our opinion, an important research program, in order to produce
desirable results, should be as flexible and unrestricted as possible.
This will permit such research to seek its logical conclusion and to be
conducted without undue restrictions upon its operations and fiscal
needs, which cannot be forecast accurately in advance.
If favorable consideration is given to enactment of this bill, this
Department suggests the following amendments:
(1) Page 2, lines 10 and 11, strike out “rehabilitation of our com-
mercial fisheries and utilization of’’, and insert in lieu thereof ‘‘con-
servation and utilization of fishery and’’.
This amendment is desirable, in our opinion, in order to permit
consideration of marine sport fishery resources in connection with
this program. The problems of managing the renewable resources,
upon which both sport and commercial fisheries depend, are insepara-
ble.
(2) Page 3, line 4, strike out ‘‘or identical’.
(3) Page 5, line 22, after the word ‘‘Fisheries,’’ insert “the Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the Bureau of Mines,”’’.
This amendment would have the effect of including in this particular
provision all of the Bureaus of this Department that are particularly
interested in oceanography.
(4) Page 7, line 12, strike out the words ‘Bureau of Commercial
Fisheries,’’ and insert in lieu thereof ‘““Department of the Interior,’’.
The foregoing amendment is desirable in order to give appropriate
representation to all phases of our activities including those of the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and
Wildlife, the Geological Survey, and the Bureau of Mines.
(5) Page 9, lines 5 and 6, strike out the words ‘“‘Bureau of Mines
and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries,’’.
This amendment is desirable in order to make clear that the appro-
priate agencies of this Department are within the scope of this
authorization.
(6) Page 10, revise lines 22 and 23 to read as follows:
‘““(_h) Determine, wherever necessary to carry out the purposes
of this Act and without regard to previous statutory limitations, the
reserves of metals of industrial, commercial or monetary value and”’.
This is a clarifying amendment designed to resolve any question that
might arise concerning the extent of our research authority in this
field.
(7) Page 11, lines 12 and 13, strike out the words ‘“‘Bureau of Mines
and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries,’’.
This amendment is desirable for the reasons cited under our
recommended amendment number 4.
(8) Page 11, beginning with the colon on line 25, strike out the
proviso which begins on that line and which ends with “annum”
on page 12, line 3.
We recommend this amendment because of the fact that funds
needed to operate our research ships are requested and obtained in
56 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
accordance with established budgetary procedures. The proposed
imposition by this bill of a fixed limitation for operating costs may
very well prove to be unrealistic and unduly restrictive of the basic
purpose of this proposed legislation in carrying out an effective research
program. ‘Two million dollars annually are needed at present for
operation of our existing fishery research vessels. According to our
present plans, some of these vessels will be replaced by new vessels.
These new vessels will require approximately $3.4 million per annum
for operating expenses. Upon acquisition of the new vessels, our
total annual operating costs of these vessels in the future probably
will be no less than $5,400,000.
(9) Page 12, line 23, beginning with the word ‘north”’ strike out
the language of the bill up to and including the word ‘Lakes’ on
page 13, line 2.
This amendment is desirable, in our opinion, because the language
in question, by referring to fisheries resources north of 15° north lati-
tude, implies a restriction, which perhaps is not intended and which
we believe is undesirable, concerning studies in the southern half of the
Caribbean and in the Pacific south of Honduras.
(10) Page 13, line 10, strike out the word “‘braking’”’ and substitute
in lieu thereof the word ‘‘brackish’’.
(11) Page 18, line 11, strike out “transportations”’ and insert in lieu
thereof “transplantation”’.
(12) Page 13, line 13, strike out “studies by the Bureau of Com-
mercial Fisheries of the’’, and insert in lieu thereof “studies pursuant to
this Act by the’’.
While this amendment is desirable for purposes of clarification as
indicated under proposed amendment number 7, we feel that such
expenditures should be governed by established budgetary procedures
without specific monetary limitation in view of the impracticability of
forecasting accurately future needs for expenditures of this kind.
(13) Page 13, line 19, strike out the colon after the word “products”
and substitute in lieu thereof a period. Also, strike out the proviso
that begins on line 19 and ends on line 2 of page 14, and substitute in
leu of such proviso the following new subsection:
“(f) In carrying out the provisions of this Act, the Secretary of the
Interior may cooperate with existing institutions pursuant to agree-
ments and by the issuance of grants to said institutions for continuing
studies of matters relating to fisheries and for the investigation of
mineral deposits on the ocean floor and mineral resources in the sea.”’
In view of the authority contained in subsection (a) of section 5, we
believe the proviso that would be eliminated from the bill by this
amendment is unnecessary. The proposed substitute language is
desirable in the interest of clarification and in order to facilitate carry-
ing out the prescribed functions by this Department.
Because this proposed program of oceanography necessarily must
be a flexible program, as we have suggested previously, the probably
future cost of such program will necessarily depend upon the progress
and the direction taken by the program as it develops. In the case
of the Geological Survey of this Department, our present expenditures
for this work aggregate some $600,000 annually. It is likely, of course,
that these expenditures will be increased in an undetermined amount
as the program develops. Similarly, we anticipate additional future
expenditures for the work to be conducted by the Bureau of Mines in
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 57
this field; however, the probably extent of such expenditures also
will depend upon future developments.
If authorized as contemplated by this bill the proposed 10-year
program relating to commercial fisheries could result in costs as
follows: Forty-four million dollars in capital expenditures, $60 million
in salaries, and $45 million in operating expenses over the 10-year
period. The $60 million for salaries would provide an estimated 550
to 600 man-years of employment per year, or 5,500 to 6,000 man-
years in 10 years. While our oceanography research, as it apples
to marine species of sport fish, will be conducted in harmony with our
oceanography research generally, it will be carried out pursuant to
and with funds obtained in accordance with a previous enactment,
the act of September 22, 1959 (73 Stat. 642).
We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no
objection to the submission of this report to your committee.
Sincerely yours,
Exumer F. BEeNNeETT,
Under Secretary of the Interior.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION,
OrricE oF THE DrrReEcTor,
Washington, D.C., March 8, 1960.
Hon. WarREN G. MaGnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
My Dear Senator Maanuson: This is in response to your request
for the comments of the National Science Foundation with respect
to S. 2692, relating to oceanography and the marine sciences.
We consider the objectives of S. 2692 to be extremely worthwhile.
The recommendations of the Committee on Oceanography of the
National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, referred
to in the bill’s declaration of policy, have been given careful considera-
tion by the various Government agencies concerned, and, in general,
the objectives of the committee’s report are considered worthy of
endorsement. Proposed future activities of the National Science
Foundation with respect to support of oceanographic research and
the provision of facilities for such research coincide closely in many
respects to the committee’s report.
We are pleased to see the interest of the Congress in these matters
which, of course, are important to the progress of oceanographic
research. It would appear, however, that much of the authority
contained in this bill is already provided for in the basic legislation
of the various Federal agencies concerned. With respect to the
National Science Foundation, the bill would not provide any addi-
tional legislative authority. Furthermore, the Foundation is engaged
in the support of significant activities aimed at improving research and
training in oceanography. For these reasons, we do not favor
enactment of S. 2692. We would like to point out, however, that,
while we believe that additional legislation is not necessary it is
important that certain areas of science which appear to require urgent
assistance in the national interest, be supported more intensively. In
recognition of the need for increased attention to the support of
research in oceanography, we have added to our earth sciences program
58 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
a full-time oceanographer. We are also encouraging the submission
of proposals to the Foundation which will provide not only for the
-carrying on of research in the field of oceanography, but which also
have a strong emphasis on the training of research workers in the field.
Furthermore, the Foundation will consider support for programs of basic
research covering a broad area or subarea of science within which
support may be provided for graduate thesis research in such areas or
subareas. In the field of oceanography this type of research support
would appear to be particularly appropriate. These and other
methods being utilized by the Foundation in providing support for
oceanographic research and training are discussed in greater detail in
subsequent portions of the letter.
Our specific comments with respect to the bill are set forth below.
First, we note that subsection 4, appearing on pages 3 and 4 of the
bill, proposes that the National Science Foundation, or other ap-
propriate agency of the Federal Government, establish a long-term
fellowship program for the recruitment of prospective oceanographers.
Establishment of specialized fellowship programs for particular areas
of science would tend to lessen the high-quality standards and the
recognition which National Science Foundation fellowships now have.
Furthermore, we believe that sufficient fellowship aid for high quality
students is available through various sources so as to enable financial
assistance to be provided to persons interested in entering the field of
oceanography. The problem is not so such that of making more fel-
lowships available as it is of stimulating students to take an interest
in becoming oceanographers. While the various disciplines that go
to make up oceanography are referred to in our fellowship literature,
it is planned, in the announcement of fellowship programs to operate
in fiscal year 1961, to also specificially mention oceanography and
meteorology as examples of areas, among others, in which fellowship
support from the Foundation will be available to qualified persons.
Let us assure you that the National Science Foundation realizes the
importance and need of increased support of teaching and research
requirements in the field of oceanography. We are studying possible
additional measures for the support of faculty and graduate students
in existing or new departments at universities, covering critical areas
of science, including oceanography. The objective here would include
support, extending into the future as far as possible, of the research
of faculty members who are engaged in such fields. As we are sure
you recognize, such forms of support must be worked out carefully in
terms of Government-university relationships in general, and espe-
cially with respect to considerations of balance and judicial treatment
as among university departments and as among the various fields of
science as noted above.
S. 2692 further proposes that there be established in the National
Science Foundation a Division of Marine Sciences to develop and
encourage a continuing national policy and program for the promotion
of oceanographic research, surveys, and education in the marine
sciences, to recommend contracts, grants, loans, or other forms of
assistance for the development and operation of a comprehensive
national program of oceanographic research and education in the
marine sciences and to engage in other activities in the field. Ocea-
nography includes, or is related to, many fields of science and thrives
best in intimate contact with various scientific disciplines. We be-
lieve it more appropriate that marine biology, for example, remain
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 59
associated with activities in the area of biological and medical sciences
and that physical oceanography continue to be associated with the
earth sciences. However, as we mentioned earlier, we have added
a full-time oceanographer to our staff. We do not feel that the activi-
ties contemplated for the proposed Division of Marine Sciences
necessitate the establishment of such a Division but can more appro-
priately be carried out within the framework of the Foundation’s
existing organizational structure.
Section 4 of the bill would authorize appropriations, in addition to
those otherwise authorized for the activities of the National Science
Foundation, to provide funds for use in connection with specified
oceanographic research activities. It appears to us that considerable
care must be exercised so as to avoid creation of a general view that
the provision of substantial additional sums for particular areas of
science will automatically greatly improve the research situation with
respect to such areas. In the case of oceanography, while additional
sums are being requested by various Federal agencies, the major
problem is to obtain a sufficient number of well-qualified people able
to utilize such additional funds in ways which will be of substantial
benefit to oceanographic research. We believe that, in view of the
particular interest which has been focused on the field of oceanography,
more persons will become interested in entering the field. However,
until a considerable number of additional persons are trained to do
high-quality scientific research in oceanography the provision of large
sums for the support of oceanographic research will not of itself im-
prove the research situation in the field. This is not to say that addi-
tional sums are not desirable but merely to provide a word of caution
as to the ability of available oceanographers to utilize greatly in-
creased amounts of research money in a useful manner. The National
Science Foundation and other Federal agencies are seeking funds of
a magnitude which they believe can presently appropriately be
utilized for oceanographic research taking into account, of course,
needs in other areas of science.
Subsection (b) of section 7 of this bill would establish within the
Department of Commerce a National Oceanographic Records Center
which would collect data on oceanography and disseminate it for
public use. The desirability of such a center, and its location, if one
is to be established, are currently under study within the executive
branch and we believe it advisable to await these recommendations
before any action is taken in this regard.
In connection with subsection (c) of section 7, we would like to
point out that for the Coast and Geodetic Survey to operate beyond
the limits of the Continental Shelf a change in its basic authority will
be necessary. H.R. 3450, introduced in the Ist session of the 86th
Congress, would provide such authority to the Survey.
Subsection (f) of section 7 would require the Maritime Adminis-
tration to construct oceanographic research vessels to be made availa-
ble to nonprofit research centers, to other agencies of the Federal Gov-
ernment, or to State institutions engaged in oceanographic research
requiring oceangoing ships. We feel that it would be preferable if
the Federal agencies concerned with oceanographic research budgeted
for such ships when and as they are needed, either for their own use
or for use by private institutions. We believe that more appropriate
roles for the Maritime Administration in this connection would be
to (1) serve as adviser on design studies, (2) undertake construction on
60 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
the basis of a transfer of funds from the agency concerned or (3) finance
and undertake research and development for oceanographic ships of
unusual or novel design on request of user agencies. Such an approach,
we believe, would provide greater flexibility and yet permit utilization
of the valuable services of the Maritime Administration in connection
with the ship construction.
Section 9 of the bill would authorize the Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare, through the Office of Education, to provide
assistance, in the form of teachers’ salaries and equipment, designed
to obtain new faculty in oceanography and the marine sciences.
Title IV of the National Defense Education Act authorizes the provi-
sion of funds by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
which may be used by colleges and universities for faculty and equip-
ment related to new or expanded fellowship programs undertaken
by such institutions. It would appear that the combined authority
existing in the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 and in title IV
of the National Defense Education Act is fully adequate for the
undertaking by executive agencies of providing all of the forms of
support contemplated by section 9 of the bill.
With respect to section 11 of the bill, authorizing the Atomic Energy
Commission to conduct an intensive 10-year program of control and
monitoring of radioactive waste disposal and studies relating to the
effects of radioactivity on the marine environment, we understand
that the Commission is presently engaged in activities in this area.
In addition, we would like to point out that, on August 14, 1959,
President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10831, establishing
the Federal Radiation Council to advise him with respect to radiation
standards and the provision of guidance to executive agencies for their
use in developing operating rules and regulations for radiological
health protection. This Council was given a statutory base by Public
Law 86-373, approved September 23, 1959. It appears, therefore,
that enactment of section 11 of the bill may be unnecessary.
Finally section 13(f) of S. 2692 would authorize and direct the
Secretary of the Navy to establish, with the National Science Founda-
tion, or the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council,
a program of scholarships beginning at the senior level in undergradu-
ate school and carrying through 4 years of graduate training and
research in the marine sciences. Earlier in this letter we discussed the
matter of providing special fellowships in the field of oceanography.
With respect to undergraduate scholarships, it is our view that well
qualified students in the various scientific fields are able to obtain
financial assistance as needed and desired. We find substantial
evidence that, with the scholarships presently available, students in
at least the upper 10 percent of the classes graduating from the second-
ary schools, and planning to pursue studies in science, engineering,
and mathematics, are generally able to obtain scholarship assistance
if needed. Other financial assistance such as loans, is also available
to them and to others with not so high an academic standing. Further-
more, it is our general view with respect to scholarship legislation, that,
while science and engineering are exerting an increasing influence on
our national life, a share of the highly talented youth should be avail-
able to other fields of endeavor. Therefore, if undergraduate scholar-
ship legislation were enacted we firmly believe that such a program
should not be limited to a particular field of science or even to science
and engineering generally.
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 61
There are four programs of the National Science Foundation that
are of special interest in connection with motivating more young
persons to undertake scientific careers. One of these is the program
that we refer to as the undergraduate research participation program.
In this activity the National Science Foundation provides grants
which enable participating universities to offer special research-
oriented training opportunities for undergraduates during the summer
months and in some cases throughout the academic year. These
training programs may be carried out on a university campus, at a
field station, or at some other appropriate location. This program
provides research opportunities, including financial assistance, which
make it possible for undergraduates to work in close contact with
scientists who are doing significant research. As it applies to the
problem of increasing the number of students studying oceanography,
the undergraduate research participation program offers the possi-
bility of presenting to highly selected undergraduate students some
of the specific techniques of research in oceanography. It is certain
that this type of program can have the effect of exciting the interest
of undergraduate students and turning their minds in the direction
of graduate study in oceanography and, therefore careers in this field.
We are endeavoring to stimulate such activities in the field of ocean-
ography during the coming year and stand ready to offer necessary
support for them.
At a lower academic level, the National Science Foundation program
of secondary school student training programs provides a variety of
mechanisms by means of which carefully selected high school students
can be shown the challenges of a particular scientific field and be given
an explanation of the type of work that is actually carried out in that
field. ‘This past summer, for example, the American Meteorological
Society sponsored a program along exactly these lines in an effort to
arouse interest on the part of a selected group of high school students
in possible careers in meteorology. Similar programs in oceanography
could arouse the interest of a number of high school students and the
Foundation is encouraging proposals for establishing and carrying out
such programs.
College teachers in the various fields relevant to oceanography need
to know more about oceanography so that they can broaden the out-
look of their students. Summer institutes and conferences in oceanog-
raphy, designed to meet the needs of these college teachers, could
become an important phase of the effort to give oceanography a fuller
degree of recognition, and college students a better idea of the rewards
of careers in the field. We are presently attempting to stimulate
interest in such activities in the field of oceanography and, here also,
are prepared to provide necessary support.
The last of the National Science Foundation science education
activities I shall mention is our program of visiting scientists. This
program makes it possible for outstanding scientists to visit college
campuses—and, to a limited extent, high schools, also—throughout
the country, where they present to the students some of the latest
findings in the visiting scientists fields. Thus far the Foundation has
supported programs in a number of fields, and experience has shown
that this program is a powerful mechanism for stimulating under-
craduate students to take an interest in graduate study and to think
in terms of graduate study in the field of the visiting scientist. As a
mechanism for bringing additional students into oceanography,
62 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
therefore, this is a particularly useful possibility, and one of which we
are encouraging oceanographers to make use.
The programs I have been discussing are all classified under the
“Education in the Sciences” heading. ‘The research-supporting oper-
ations of the National Science Foundation are also of major importance
in connection with this problem. National Science Foundation re-
search grants provide funds to enable individuals already trained in
oceanography to carry out research in this field and in related areas
of science. Grants made in support of oceanography (as in other
fields) typically provide funds for the support of research assistants
as do awards from other agencies supporting oceanographic research.
The term “research assistants’? is used to mean graduate students.
who are supported as a part of a research grant, either for a specific
project or for a broad area of science. In many instances these
students work on their dissertation problems in connection with a
research grant which has been supported through the National Science
Foundation’s basic research program. With the additional funds
being made available to the Foundation for the support of basic
research in this area more support will go into projects related to
oceanography and, therefore, additional support will be provided for
the training of graduate students in oceanography.
Another mechanism to which I referred briefly earlier in this letter
is that of broad research grants in the area of oceanography to insti-
tutions having highly competent staffs and programs in the field of
oceanography. Funds thus provided can be used for young scientists
who, entering as graduate students in oceanography, participate in
the research of these groups. The caliber of the men carrying on the
research would be a substantial factor in helping to secure the interest
of first-rate students in careers in oceanography. As a further com-
ment with respect to the role that research grants can play in attract-
ing more able young scientists into careers in oceanography, I would
also place high on the list the provision of adequate facilities. This
includes, of course, suitable vessels for carrying on oceanographic
research. Various Government agencies, including the National Sci-
ence Foundation, have programs to assure the provision of more
facilities of this nature.
The Foundation stands ready to assist in all of these ways discussed
above, and I believe that an attack on the problem with the many
devices at the command of the Government and universities should
result in an important strengthening of work in this field.
In summary, the primary problems in the area of oceanographic
research and training appear to be the following:
(1) Motivation of more young persons to undertake careers in
science and, at a later stage, to become interested in the field of
oceanography. While financial assistance for highly capable per-
sons interested in oceanography is, and should be, available, the
problem is not primarily one of financial support, we believe, but
more of encouraging oceanography as a career. As noted above,
the National Science Foundation is undertaking efforts to achieve
this objective.
(2) Coordination of Federal and private activities with respect
to stimulating research and training activities in oceanography.
Federal agencies concerned with matters of oceanographic re-
search and with the marine sciences are working closely with one
MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT 63:
another and with non-Federal organizations to develop a com-:
prehensive attack on the problem. In this connection, the Ford.
Foundation has recently announced the award of grants to several
universities, designed to increase the number of advanced research
scientists in the field of oceanography.
(3) Provision of funds to carry out needed programs in the
field of oceanography and the marine sciences. The 1961 budget
provides for substantial expansion of Federal support of ocea-
nography through programs of the Foundation and a number of
other agencies. We understand that total expenditures for
oceanography exclusive of funds for certain military purposes
will be $56 million in 1961 as contrasted with $38 million in 1960.
As we mentioned earlier, care must be exercised, however, so as:
not to create too great an imbalance between oceanography and.
other areas of science. Another factor directly related to utili-
zation of oceanographic research funds is that the number of
oceanographers presently trained and capable of doing high
quality research work is limited and until there is a significant
increase in the number of such persons, additional funds alone
will not achieve the desired result.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment on the bill.
The Bureau of the Budget has advised us it has no objection to the
submission of this report.
Sincerely yours,
Atan T. Waterman, Director.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,
Washington, April 25, 1960..
Hon. Warren G. Macnuson,
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Forergn Commerce,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
My Dear Mr. Cuarirman: Reference is made to your request for
the views of this Department on S. 2692, to advance the marine
sciences, to establish a comprehensive 10-year program of oceano-
graphic research and surveys; to promote commerce and navigation,
to secure the national defense; to expand ocean resources; to authorize
the construction of research and survey ships and facilities; to assure
systematic studies of effects of radioactive materials in marine en-
vironments; to enhance the general welfare; and for other purposes.
The Department is not in a position to state whether new legis-
lation is necessary to carry out the proposed program of oceanographic
and marine research or whether it could be carried out by the de-
partments and agencies specified in the bill under their existing
authority. However, the Department would like to point out that
the bill fails to recognize important interests that the Coast Guard
has in many phases of the proposed research program. For example,
the Coast Guard is charged with the enforcement of all applicable
Federal laws upon the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States and the administration of a safety program upon
these waters covering all matters not specifically delegated by law to.
another Federal agency (14 U.S.C. 2). The Coast Guard, in its
management of the international ice patrol service, conducts oceano-
graphic surveys of the ocean areas in the North Atlantic and collects.
64 MARINE SCIENCES AND RESEARCH ACT
and disseminates ocean data (46 U.S.C. 738a(d)). Coast Guard
vessels serving on ocean station duty collect and furnish limited
oceanographic data to the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office (14 U.S.C.
90). Icebreaking vessels are maintained and operated by the Coast
Guard as one of its primary duties (14 U.S.C. 2, Executive Order No.
7521). The Coast Guard also has responsibility for regulating the
carriage of explosives and other dangerous articles by vessels (46
Ues@.3h7 0)
Inasmuch as the Coast Guard already has authority to conduct
programs in oceanography, it would not seek further authorization
for these programs. However, should your committee take favorable
action on this bill, the Department would suggest appropriate recog-
nition of the oceanographic activities of the Coast Guard, along with
those of other agencies.
The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget
that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your
committee.
Very truly yours,
A. GitMorE FL.uss,
Acting Secretary of the Treasury.
O
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