[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE NATIONAL OCEAN EXPLORATION PROGRAM ACT

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                         HON. CAROL SHEA-PORTER

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 4, 2008

   Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Madam Speaker, I was pleased to cosponsor and vote 
for the National Ocean Exploration Program Act, H.R. 1834, which 
authorizes two excellent and successful National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, programs, the Natonal Undersea 
Research Program, NURP, and the Ocean Exploration program, OE.
   While new technologies have enabled us, for example, to create high-
resolution maps of the sea floor, to measure plate movements, or to 
study ocean processes quantitatively, the world's oceans remain, to a 
great extent, unknown. We know so little about the ocean's living 
creatures, nonliving resources, and processes. We don't know enough 
about the impact of global climate and other environmental change on 
the ocean. Ocean exploration and ocean research complement each other. 
Because of the importance of our oceans to life on earth, we need to 
step up the pace of both exploration and research to be able to make 
informed decisions about issues related to the ocean.
   This bill promotes integration of the two programs, combining their 
strengths and capabilities, in order to serve our country and NOAA more 
effectively. NURP has maintained a network of regional centers of 
undersea science and technology for 30 years, while OE, when 
established in 2001, began a national effort to explore the ocean. Both 
programs have been collaborating in development of innovative 
technologies for exploration, and on voyages of exploration, such as an 
expedition in the South Pacific that discovered new marine environments 
and ecosystems.
   The complementary relationship between the two programs within NOAA 
will make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. The bill's 
authorization of these programs will help provide the best scientific 
information on ocean habitats and other phenomena, and will ensure that 
this information is widely distributed. We must explore and work to 
reveal the unknown so that we can deepen our understanding of crucial 
oceanic environmental issues and inspire scientists, educators, 
decision-makers, and the public to learn more about the ocean. In the 
coming years, America's economic, environmental and national security 
may depend on our knowledge of the ocean, and our understanding of how 
it sustains life on earth.

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