Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House Transmitting Reports on Oceanographic Research.
Dear Mr. :
Recognizing the continued interest by the Congress in advancing this Nation's program in oceanography, I am pleased to forward advance copies of two publications of the Federal Council for Science and Technology that set forth Government-wide plans and budget details.
These reports, entitled "National Oceanographic Program, Fiscal Year 1965, Parts I and II," contain an account of oceanic research to meet national goals, in keeping with the long range considerations previously submitted to the Congress. Information is also included concerning proposed funding for research, surveys, new ship and laboratory construction, and concerning program planning and coordination by the Council's Interagency Committee on Oceanography (ICO), to minimize unwitting duplication and program gaps.
The proposed Federal budget in oceanography is $138 million. This is 11% more than Fiscal Year 1964 appropriations, which in turn equalled those for Fiscal Year 1963. This proposed growth is an absolute minimum if the country is to maintain the momentum necessary to achieve those objectives in oceanic research which have been previously enunciated by both President Kennedy and the Congress--to enhance our military defense; to develop marine mineral and fisheries resources; to control pollution; to predict more accurately storms and tides that endanger life and property; to assist state, national and international bodies in wise legislation and regulation of commerce on the sea; and to extend scientific knowledge generally.
I especially should like to call attention to the Government-wide character of this program. Statutory responsibility for the conduct of related sectors are vested in a number of separate agencies. Special measures are thus being continued by the Office of Science and Technology and the Federal Council for Science and Technology, with the assistance of the ICO, to achieve effective interagency planning and coordination.
Sincerely yours,
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Note: This is the text of identical letters addressed to the Honorable Carl Hayden, President pro tempore of the Senate, and to the Honorable john W. McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The letter was made public as part of a White House release concerning the reports published as ICO Pamphlet No. 15, dated March 1964 (50 pp., including Part I: Summary, Fiscal Year 1965, and Part II: The Program and Its Cost).
The release pointed out that the reports were the result of cooperative participation on the part of scientists, engineers, technicians, and administrative officers from numerous universities and industries, and from the State and National Governments. Dr. Donald F. Hornig, Director, Office of Science and Technology, served as Chairman of the Federal Council for Science and Technology, and James H. Wakelin, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as Chairman of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House Transmitting Reports on Oceanographic Research. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239582