[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24004]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   COUNCIL ON OCEANS POLICY AWARENESS

  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, recently, the U.S. Commission on Ocean 
Policy made a series of far-reaching recommendations to help keep our 
oceans viable for future generations. While the Senate as a whole will 
not address these recommendations this Congress, I hope we may be able 
to work on these critical issues next year.
  In the meanwhile, my home State of North Carolina has already begun 
to make real the recommendations of the Commission. For instance, North 
Carolina public schools have begun fostering formal ocean education in 
K-12 schools, after the State mandated inclusion of ocean curricula in 
middle school.
  North Carolina is also leading the Nation in heeding the call for 
improved scientific understanding of the oceans. Of particular pride is 
the success of the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing System, or 
SEACOOS, an umbrella organizations of institutions that is building a 
regional ocean monitoring and prediction system for the southeast 
States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
  Through the leadership of the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill, SEACOOS aggregates ocean information from federal and non-Federal 
sources for display and redistribution. This information system 
supports many uses, from search and rescue and hazardous spill response 
to providing information for recreational boaters and fishermen. This 
collaborative effort among dozens of institutions is a model of 
teamwork that will enable rapid development of a relevant, user-driven 
multi-purpose system.
  As part of the larger IOOS system, SEACOOS will improve the decision-
making process for coastal managers, severe weather response teams, and 
so many others in whose decisions coastal conditions are a factor. 
Through its scientific contributions to data collection and analysis, 
SEACOOS will advance the Nation's needs in such broad areas as: marine 
operations, e.g. shipping and offshore operations like drilling and 
mining; natural hazard mitigation, e.g. storm forecasting, surge 
prediction, tsunami warning; climate change and its effects, e.g. 
interannual variability in water temperature, salinity, nutrients, 
storminess, plankton species and abundance, fish species and abundance; 
national security, e.g. toxin trajectories, detection of covert 
operations; public health, e.g. unsafe biological activity, rip 
currents, harmful algal blooms; ecosystem health, e.g. changes in food 
web structure; and sustainable use of marine resources, e.g. fish stock 
assessments.
  Among so many throughout the southeast who have made SEACOOS 
possible, I especially want to note and thank Harvey Seim, Associate 
Professor of Marine Science at UNC Chapel Hill. Professor Seim has been 
the visionary and leader in building this collaborative initiative. His 
dedication to advancing scientific knowledge that serves the public 
interest embodies the best spirit of higher education and the academic 
research enterprise that makes our nation great.
  In keeping with the recommendations of the commission, SEACOOS is a 
model worthy of replicating around the country. It is consistent with 
the Integrated Ocean Observing System that is called for in the 
commission report. IOOS is a national, interagency program that the 
commission recommends be fully funded and implemented to provide a 
multipurpose ocean information system for the Nation. Legislation to 
authorize IOOS has already been unanimously passed by the Senate, S. 
1400 and companion bills are pending in the House. I look forward to 
continued congressional support and continued success as we increase 
our knowledge and understanding of our oceans.

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