[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[June 12, 2000]
[Pages 1132-1133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Memorandum on a New Era of Ocean Exploration
June 12, 2000

Memorandum for the Secretary of Commerce

Subject: A New Era of Ocean Exploration

    Two years ago, the Vice President and I joined you, other members of 
my Cabinet, and hundreds of others from across the country at the 
National Ocean Conference in Monterey. This historic gathering drew 
together for the first time representatives from government, industry, 
and the scientific and conservation communities to begin charting a 
common oceans agenda for the 21st century.
    At the Conference, I directed my Cabinet to report back with 
recommendations for a coordinated, disciplined, long-term Federal ocean 
policy. In its report to me last year, Turning to the Sea: America's 
Ocean Future, the Cabinet outlined an ambitious and detailed strategy to 
ensure the protection and sustainable use of our ocean resources. I am 
proud of the actions my Administration is taking to begin implementing 
this strategy, including the Executive Order I issued last month to 
strengthen our national network of marine protected areas.
    One of the Cabinet's key recommendations was that the Federal 
Government establish a national strategy to expand exploration of the 
oceans. Although we have learned more about our oceans in the past 25 
years than during any other period in history, over 95 percent of the 
underwater world is still unknown and unseen. What remains to be 
explored may hold clues to the origins of life on Earth, cures for human 
diseases, answers to how to achieve sustainable use of our oceans, links 
to our maritime history, and information to protect the endangered 
species of the sea.
    Today, I am announcing steps to immediately enhance our ocean 
exploration efforts and to develop the long-term exploration strategy 
recommended by you and the rest of the Cabinet. Together, these actions 
represent the start of a new era of ocean exploration.
    First, I am announcing the launch of three new expeditions off the 
Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. As you know, these expeditions, led 
by the Department of Commerce in collaboration with private partners, 
will allow the first detailed exploration of the Hudson River Canyon off 
New York, the Middle Grounds and Big Bend areas off central Florida, and 
the Davidson Seamount off central California. Researchers will employ 
the latest submersible technologies and will share their discoveries 
with schoolchildren and the public via the Internet and satellite 
communications.
    Second, to ensure that these new expeditions are only the start of a 
new era of ocean exploration, I am directing you to convene a panel of 
leading ocean explorers, educators, and scientists and to report back to 
me within 120 days with recommendations for a national oceans 
exploration strategy. In implementing this directive, you shall consult 
with the National Science Foundation, the National Atmospheric and Space 
Administration, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental 
Protection Agency, and other agencies, as appropriate. The strategy 
should consider the full array of benefits that our oceans provide, and 
should support our efforts to conserve and ensure the sustainable use of 
valuable ocean resources. Specifically, the strategy should:

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        1.   Define objectives and priorities to guide ocean 
            exploration, including the identification of key sites of 
            scientific, historic, and cultural importance;
        2.   Recommend ways of creating new partnerships to draw on the 
            tools and talents of educational, research, private-sector, 
            and government organizations, including opportunities for 
            Federal agencies to provide in-kind support for private 
            ocean exploration initiatives;
        3.   Examine the potential for new technologies--including 
            manned and unmanned vehicles and undersea platforms--to 
            observe and explore the oceans from surface to seafloor and 
            recommend ways to explore the oceans remotely using new 
            observatories and sensors and other innovative uses of 
            technology; and
        4.   Recommend mechanisms to ensure that information about newly 
            explored areas warranting additional protection is referred 
            to the newly established Marine Protected Area Center, and 
            that newly discovered organisms or other resources with 
            medicinal or commercial potential are identified for 
            possible research and development.
    In the early years of the 19th century, President Thomas Jefferson 
commissioned Captain Meriwether Lewis to explore the American West. What 
followed was the most important exploration in this country's history. 
As America prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and 
Clark Expedition, we have an opportunity to set our sights on a much 
broader horizon. The time has come to take exploration farther west, and 
east, and south, to our submerged continents. In so doing, we can 
challenge and rekindle American's spirit of exploration, open up a whole 
new underwater world of possibilities, and help preserve our 
extraordinary marine heritage for future generations.

                                                      William J. Clinton