serious question of ownership of these lands by the individual States within the boundaries of which the lands lie.

The Submerged Lands Act, approved May 22, 1953, confirmed and established the titles of the States to lands "beneath navigable waters within State boundaries" and to the natural resources within such lands and waters. The act provided for the use and control of said lands and resources, and confirmed the jurisdiction and control of the United States over the natural resources of the seabed of the Continental Shelf seaward of State boundaries.

The act defined the term "lands beneath navigable waters" to

mean:

(1) all lands within the boundaries of each of the respective States which are covered by nontidal waters that were navigable under the laws of the United States at the time such State became a member of the Union, or acquired sovereignty over such lands and waters thereafter, up to the ordinary high water mark as heretofore or hereafter modified by accretion, erosion, and reliction;

(2) all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the coast line of each such State and to the boundary line of each such State where in any case such boundary as it existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as heretofore approved by Congress, extends seaward (or into the Gulf of Mexico) beyond three geographical miles, and

(3) all filled in, made, or reclaimed lands which formerly were lands beneath navigable waters, as hereinabove defined.

The act defined the term "boundaries" to include:

the seaward boundaries of a State or its boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico or any of the Great Lakes as they existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as heretofore approved by the Congress, or as extended or confirmed pursuant to section 4 hereof.

The act declared that:

In no event shall the term "boundaries" or the term "lands beneath navigable waters" be interpreted as extending from the coast line more than three geographical miles into the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, or more than three marine leagues into the Gulf of Mexico.

The present "oil for education" proposal as introduced in the 84th Congress, relates to the educational usage of revenues received from submerged coastal lands lying seaward of the lands "beneath navigable waters within State boundaries" as thus defined in Public Law 31.

B. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A precedent for usage of public land resources to support education in the United States was set by the colonial governments long before formation of the Union. The colonists were familiar with the European custom of endowment of the ministry and the associated endowment of schools with landed property. Accordingly in many instances they set aside some of the colonial lands to support both the common schools and institutions of higher education.

Income for education was derived from the public lands in several ways. These included (1) revenue in the form of rents from lands donated in perpetuity to schools and universities, (2) income from the investment of funds obtained from the sale of lands, and (3) current usage of proceeds from land sales to support schools.

As early as in 1618 the Virginia Company reserved 10,000 acres for the endowment of a college and a university. In 1621, Virginia

set aside land for the support of a free common school. Other colonies soon thereafter provided for the usage of public land resources for the support of education.

Before the close of the Revolutionary War conflicting colonial claims to lands in the Western Territory arose. Following the Revolution the Continental Congress appealed to certain colonies to relinquish their claims to lands in the West; and in 1780 the Congress passed a resolution pledging that the western lands thus relinquished to the United States would be disposed of for the benefit of the whole population.

În 1785 an ordinance adopted by the Congress of the Confederation for the disposal of public lands in the Western Territory reserved one section of every township for the endowment of schools within that township. Two years later, in the ordinance of 1787 providing for the government of the Northwest Territory, the Congress made the clear declaration of policy that:

Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

Concerning the importance of the ordinance of 1787 in relation to education, Daniel Webster said:

I doubt whether any single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787 ***. It set forth and declared it to be a high and binding duty of Government to support schools and advance the means of education.

In certain contracts for the sale of public lands in 1787 and 1788, the Congress again set aside lands for the support of schools and universities.

Some of the founding fathers of the United States advocated Federal promotion of education. President Washington advised Congress to promote knowledge as "the surest basis of public happiness. Thomas Jefferson advocated using the proceeds from the Federal tariff on imports for several purposes, one of which was education. Presidents James Madison and James Monroe respectively urged the use of public land resources for the establishment of a national university and for "the all-important purpose of diffusing knowledge among our fellow-citizens throughout the United States." In 1802 the Congress of the United States took definite action in continuation of the general policy in support of education initiated 17 years earlier by the Congress of the Confederation. With the admission of Ohio to the Union in 1802, Congress began setting aside lands for school support at the time of admission of a State. As other States formed from the public domain were admitted, the grant of sections in townships were continued. In States admitted after 1849 two sections in each township were reserved for the support of schools; and in States admitted after 1895, four sections in each township were reserved for the same purpose. New States also received lands for the endowment of academies and universities. Many of the great State universities were founded with the aid of land grants.

The Morrill Act of 1862, approved by President Abraham Lincoln, provided a grant of Federal lands or land scrip to each State in the amount of 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress from that State. The proceeds of the sales of these grants

were to be used for the endowment and support of colleges having as their primary object the teaching of "such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts." From this provision made by Congress for usage of public land resources to support education, there came into existence the land-grant colleges. These have made contributions of inestimable importance to the rise of the United States to its present position of world eminence.

President Ulysses S. Grant's messages to Congress were replete with recommendations for Federal action in support of education. In 1872 he recommended a bill which declared that:

The net proceeds of the public lands are hereby forever consecrated and set apart for the education of the people.

In 1880 President Rutherford B. Hayes made a similar recommendation.

Since 1900 relatively few proposals for the use of remaining publicland resources for the support of education have been made. Instead there have been numerous proposals for the outright grant of Federal funds to the States for the support of elementary and secondary education in general, for the construction of public schools in particular, or for other forms of Federal aid to education, some of which have been provided by the Congress.

In 1949 Representative (now Senator) Francis Case of South Dakota, and Senator William Langer of North Dakota, introduced bills proposing the creation of a Federal water lands reserve, consisting of lands along the coast of the United States, income from which would be used for the support of education.

No action was taken on this bill. In 1953 Senator Case referred to it as the "forerunner" of the Hill proposal.1 On behalf of a number of other Senators and himself, on June 7, 1951, Senator Hill submitted his "oil for education" proposal as an amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 20, 82d Congress, 1st session. In the beginning of his speech concerning the amendment the Senator said:

As Senators know, the resolution provides for the continuation of operations under certain mineral leases issued by the respective States covering submerged lands of the Continental Shelf. The resolution, as I understand it, proposes to continue the orderly development of oil and gas deposits in the submerged lands during the period the Congress decides how to implement the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States in which that Court decided that the United States does own the submerged lands on the Continental Shelf adjacent to the shores of California, Louisiana, and Texas, and that such States do not own the submerged lands of the Continental Shelf adjacent to their boundaries.

In U. S. v. California (332 U. S. 19, June 23, 1947) the Supreme Court stated without equivocation that "California is not the owner of the 3-mile marginal belt along the coast. And in U. S. v. Texas (339 U. S. 704, October 16, 1950) the Court settled for all time this controversial argument between the United States and the several States by holding that the ownership and proprietary rights to this marginal sea, as well as the governmental powers of regulation and control, was in the United States of America as a whole.2

The amendment proposed that most of the income received from leasing resources of the submerged coastal lands to private enterprise be held in a special account in the Treasury of the United States during the then existing national emergency and that this income be used "only for such urgent developments essential to the national defense and national security" as the Congress might determine, and

1 Congressional Record, vol. 99, pt. 3, Apr. 23, p. 3664. Congressional Record, vol. 97, pt. 5, June 7, 1951, p. 6236.

thereafter "exclusively as grants in aid of primary, secondary, and higher education."

If enacted, the amendment would have earmarked 62% percent of royalties derived from lands within the 3-mile limit and 100 percent of those derived from lands beyond for educational purposes in all the States after utilization of amounts necessary to meet urgent needs of national defense. The same proposal as that embodied in the Hill amendment was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 19, 1951, by Representative Mike Mansfield, Democrat, of Montana.

Hearings on the proposal were held by the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs early in the 2d session of the 82d Congress, 1952, but decisive action on the issue was not taken during that Congress.

C. ACTION DURING THE 83D CONGRESS

During its 1st session the 83d Congress gave extensive consideration to the "oil for education" proposal and enacted two laws affecting it. In February and March 1953 the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs held hearings on several proposals concerning submerged lands, including:

S. J. Res. 13, a joint resolution to confirm and establish the titles of the States to lands beneath navigable waters within State boundaries and to the natural resources within such lands and waters, and to provide for the use and control of said lands and resources; and

S. 107, a bill to provide for the development of the oil and gas reserves of the Continental Shelf adjacent to the shores of the United States, to protect certain equities therein, to confirm the titles of the several States to lands underlying inland navigable waters within State boundaries, and for other purposes; and

S. 107 amendment, to provide that the revenues shall be used only for national defense, national security, and as grants-inaid of primary, secondary, and higher education.

Also during February and March 1953 a subcommittee of the House Committee on the Judiciary held hearings on

H. R. 2948 and similar bills to promote the exploration, development, and conservation of certain resources in the submerged lands and to provide for the use, control, and disposition of the lands and resources of the lands beneath inland waters and in the Continental Shelf.

After considerable debate a bill similar to H. R. 2948, namely H. R. 4198, the Submerged Lands Act introduced by Representative Louis E. Graham on March 25, 1953, passed the House and the Senate (in lieu of S. J. Res. 13), and became Public Law 31 on May 22, 1943, without the "oil for education" amendment. Tied to some other less acceptable amendments the "oil for education" amendment had been tabled in the Senate by a vote of 56 to 33.

Public Law 31 established the titles of the States to the submerged coastal lands within their State boundaries as defined in the act, confirming to the jurisdiction of the Federal Government the outer Continental Shelf. The principal provisions of this act affecting the "oil for education" proposal have already been set forth in this discussion.

In May and June 1953 the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs held extensive hearings on

S. 1901, a bill to provide for the jurisdiction of the United States over the submerged lands of the outer Continental Shelf, and to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease such lands for certain purposes; and

S. 1901 amendment, to provide that the revenues shall be used only for national defense, national security, and as grantsin-aid of primary, secondary, and higher education.

By a vote of 45 to 37 on June 24 the Senate approved the amendment. The House, however, passed its version of the bill without such an amendment and it was deleted in subsequent Senate-House conferences. Senator Hill appealed to the House conferees to refer the amendment to the consideration of the whole House, but this action was not taken.

In lieu of S. 1901, and after considerable debate in both Houses and in conference committee meetings, the Congress passed H. R. 5134, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which had been introduced by Representative Louis E. Graham on May 12, 1953. The act was signed by the President on August 7, 1953, and became Public Law 212, 83d Congress. The law declared that the subsoil and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction, control, and power of disposition as provided in the act. It authorized the Secretary of the Interior to lease these lands for certain purposes, without providing for the educational use of the revenue derived therefrom.

Near the close of the 1st session of the 83d Congress, on August 1, 1953, Senator Robert C. Hendrickson introduced S. 2569 for himself and Senator Francis Case. This bill proposed that all revenues collected under the provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act be held in reserve for urgent national emergencies first, and second for purposes of primary, secondary, and higher education.

Early in the 2d session of the 83d Congress, on January 19, 1954, Senator Hill introduced S. 2763 for himself and 33 other Senators. This bill was identical with S. 772 and H. R. 363, which are pending in the 84th Congress. The proposal embodied in these bills has already been set forth in this report.

Bills identical to S. 2763 were introduced during the 2d session of the 83d Congress by Representatives Homer D. Angell, Carl Elliott, Samuel N. Friedel, and Frazier Reams. A similar resolution was introduced by Senator Paul H. Douglas and others.

D. RELEVANT CONSIDERATIONS

The Continental Shelf of the United States extends under the sea to varying distances from shore. Along the Atlantic coast, the average distance is about 70 miles and the maximum distance is about 250 miles. In the Gulf of Mexico, the average distance is about 93 miles and the maximum is about 200 miles. Along the Pacific coast the shelf is relatively quite short. The total area of the shelf of the United States is estimated to contain about 290,000 square miles, or an area larger than New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky combined. The area of the shelf off Alaska is estimated to contain 600,000 square miles-an area almost as large as Alaska itself.