Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE TREASURY, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Department on H.R. 7849, to provide for the development of ocean resources, to provide for economic development of the Continental Shelf, to provide for expanded research in the oceans and the Great Lakes, to establish a National Oceanographic Council, and for other purposes. This bill combines the provisions of other bills introduced in the 89th Congress of which H.R. 5654 and H.R. 6009 are representative. One title of the bill provides for the establishment of a National Oceanographic Council in the Executive Office of the President. The Council would be chaired by the Vice President and would be composed of the heads of certain executive departments and agencies. It would employ a staff headed by an Executive Director. The chief responsibility of the Council would be to coordinate work in oceanography being carried out by the various departments and agencies of the Federal Government. A second title of the bill would establish a Marine Exploration and Development Commission composed of five memberstwo from private life appointed by the President and the Secretaries of Defense, Interior, and Commerce. This Commission would be charged with the formulation and carrying out of programs for the purpose of exploration and development of the marine resources of the Continental Shelf. The Department is in favor of the purposes of the bill which are to advance the national program on oceanography and to advance the national interest in exploration and development of the resources of the Continental Shelf. It questions, however, whether the proposed bill offers the most effective method of achieving these purposes. With respect to oceanography, coordination at the present time is achieved through the use of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography formed by the Federal Council for Science and Technology. The Department believes that this basic approach should be continued and is opposed to the creation of another office or agency with independent authority and responsibility in the field. With respect to the proposed Commission, it is believed that the function and programs of that Commission would overlap the duties and responsibilities currently vested in other offices and agencies with respect to oceanography. The latter covers basic disciplines of science. and engineering and contains within its spectrum such categories as marine biology, geology, physics, chemistry, fisheries, and ocean forecasting. From this partial listing, it is apparent that some functions of the proposed Commission would include many of the phases of oceanography currently within the scope of the existing national program on oceanography. The Department has stated its support of H.R. 2218 as a constructive measure for assuring coordination of the efforts of the various Government agencies in the area of oceanography. For the reasons given above, the Department believes that the establishment of a new agency, as outlined in the proposed bill, will not achieve that result in as desirable a manner. Accordingly, the Treasury Department opposes the enactment of H.R. 7849. The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection from the standpoint of the administration's program to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, FRED B. SMITH, Acting General Counsel. [H.R. 9064, H.R. 9483, H.R. 9617, H.R. 9667, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] BILLS To establish a National Commission on Oceanography Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby established a National Commission on Oceanography, hereinafter referred to as the "Commission". SEC. 2. The Commission shall be composed of fifteen members appointed by the President from among persons with a competency in the areas to be dealt with by the Commission. It shall include five representatives from Government; five representatives from industry; and five representatives from universities or laboratories engaged in oceanographic pursuits. SEC. 3. The Commission shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members. Eight members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its power but shall be filled in the same manner in which the appointment was made. SEC. 4. The Commission shall make a comprehensive investigation and study of all aspects of oceanography in order to recommend an overall plan for an adequate national oceanographic program that will meet the present and future national needs. The investigation and study shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) Review the known and contemplated needs for natural resources from the oceans to maintain our expanding national economy. (b) Review the surveys, applied research programs, and ocean engineering projects required to obtain the needed resources from the ocean. (c) Review the existing national research programs to insure realistic and adequate support for basic oceanographic research that will enhance human welfare and scientific knowledge. (d) Review the existing Government and industrial oceanographic and ocean engineering programs, including education and technical training to determine which programs are required to advance our national oceanographic competence and stature and which are not now adequately supported by existing agencies. (e) Analyze the findings of the above reviews and recommend an overall plan for an adequate national oceanographic and ocean engineering program that will meet the present and future national needs without unnecessary duplication of effort among the participating agencies. (f) Recommend an organizational plan and budget to accomplish the recommendations above. SEC. 5. Members of the Commission appointed from outside the Government shall each receive $100 per diem when engaged in the actual performance of duties of the Commission. Members of the Commission appointed from within the Government shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services to the Government. SEC. 6. The Commission shall have nower to appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as it deems advisable, without regard to the civil service laws and the Classification Act of 1949, as amended. In addition, the Commission may secure temporary and immediate services to the same extent as is authorized the departments and agencies of the Government by section 15 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946, but at rates not to exceed $100 per diem for individuals. SEC. 7. All members and other personnel of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in carrying out this Act. SEC. 8. (a) The Commission or, on the authorization of the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and places, administer such oaths, and require, by subpena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memorandums, papers, and documents as the Commission or such subcommittee or member may deem advisable. Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of the Commission, of such committee, or any duly designated member, and may be served by any person designated by such chairman or member. The provisions of sections 102 to 104, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C., secs. 192-194), shall apply in the case of any failure of any witness to comply with any subpena or to testify when summoned under authority of this section. (b) The Commission is authorized to secure directly from any executive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purpose of this Act; and each such department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, establishment, or instrumentality is authorized and directed to furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commission, upon request made by the chairman or vice chairman. SEC. 9. The Commission shall submit an interim report within one year from the date of enactment of this Act and submit a final report of its findings and recommendations to the President and Congress no later than the end of two years after the date of enactment of this Act. The Commission shall cease to exist thirty days after it has submitted its final report. Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. BONNER: The Atomic Energy Commission is pleased to comment on H.R. 9064, a bill to establish a National Commission on Oceanography. The bill would establish a National Commission on Oceanography composed of members, appointed by the President, who would be representatives from Government, from industry, and from universities or laboratories engaged in oceanographic pursuits. The Commission would be directed to make a comprehensive investigation and study of all aspects of oceanography in order to recommend an overall plan for an adequate national oceanographic program that will meet the present and future national needs. The Commission would be directed to submit a final report of its findings and recommendations to the President and Congress within 2 years. As you know, the Atomic Energy Commission was one of the four Federal agencies that first suggested and participated in efforts to Coordinate the national program in oceanography. The Federal Council for Science and Technology (FCST) established the permanent Interagency Committee on Oceanography (ICO) in 1960; a primary function of ICO has been to coordinate the activities of various agencies having an interest in oceanography and related marine sciences. The AEC is a member of the ICO and participates in the annual preparation of the Government's national oceanographic program, which is reviewed and approved by the FCST. The ICO has also formulated a long range national oceanographic plan (1963-72). The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) participated in the review of this plan, and the NAS Committee on Oceanography engages in a continuing examination of long range oceanographic planning. The recently established NAS National Academy of Engineering plans to set up a Committee on Ocean Engineering to work closely with the NAS Committee on Oceanography in the future development of long range oceanographic matters of interest to industry. The National Security Industrial Association is also active in making recommendations regarding a national oceanographic program. In view of the comprehensive short and long range planning being carried on by the Federal Government and by organizations, composed of representatives of industry, universities and laboratories, whose recommendations are given careful consideration in the formulation of the Government's program in oceanography, it is not clear that the establishment of a National Commission on Oceanography as proposed by the bill would be of substantial benefit to the national oceanographic program. It is the Commission's view that the Nation's interests in oceanography can best be served by adequate support of the present efforts. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, JOHN V. VINCIGUERRA (For the General Manager). EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., July 29, 1965. Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your letter of June 21, 1965, requesting the views of the Bureau of the Budget on H.R. 9064, a bill to establish a National Commission on Oceanography. The bill would create a temporary commission to "make a comprehensive investigation and study of all aspects of oceanography in order to recommend an overall plan for an adequate national oceanographic program that will meet the present and future national needs." It would submit a final report of its findings and recommendations within 2 years. In its report to you of July 6, 1965, the Office of Science and Technology has pointed out that a study like that proposed to be made by the Commission is already being carried out by the special Panel on Oceanography of the President's Science Advisory Committee. A principal advantage of conducting a study of programs in one field of science through the machinery of the President's Science Advisory Committee is that the objectives and opportunities in that field can be weighed against the competing claims of other fields of science. A statutory Commission concerned with a single scientific field. would necessarily lack the breadth of perspective which would be desirable. Its mission would not permit it to assess the relative priorities of oceanography in relation to those of other scientific fields and, thus, its recommendations might lead to serious imbalance among scientific programs. In our previous letters we have reported our views to your committee concerning H.R. 921 (March 11, 1965), H.R. 2218 (March 11, 1965) and H.R. 5884 and 6009 (July 27, 1965). In those letters we stated that significant steps have been taken in recent years to strengthen overall coordination of oceanographic activities at the Presidential level; that substantial progress is being made in developing and conducting a sound oceanographic program under existing arrangements; and that the executive branch has been seeking to improve the process of reporting to the Congress on the status and future plans for this field. We believe that the study currently in process by the Panel on Oceanography will help to illuminate further opportunities and needs in this field. In light of the factors cited above, the Bureau of the Budget recommends against enactment of H.R. 9064. We favor, instead, enactment of H.R. 2218 which would provide for the establishment of a comprehensive Federal oceanographic program. Under this program the President and the Congress would be informed not once-but annually-of recommended plans and programs to meet the present and future national needs in oceanography. Sincerely yours, Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in further reply to your request for the views of this Department with respect to H.R. 9064, a bill to establish a National Commission on Oceanography. H.R. 9064 would establish a temporary investigatory commission on oceanography of 15 members appointed by the President, five from Government, five from industry, and five from universities and laboratories. The Commission would investigate and study all aspects of oceanography and recommend a plan for a national oceanographic program. It would submit an interim report within 1 year, a final report within 2 years, and would cease to exist 30 days after submission of its final report. The existing Federal program in oceanography is continuously evaluated and coordinated by the Interagency Committee on Oceanography. The National Academy of Sciences Committee on Oceanography is preparing a review and reevaluation of its 1960-70 program for Federal oceanographic activity. The President's Science Advisory Committee has been directed to review and recommend improvements of the Federal program in oceanography, and its Panel on Oceanography recently held a meeting at Woods Hole, Mass., for that purpose. Thus, Federal oceanographic activities are presently under significant review by qualified persons both within and outside 53-367-65--7 |