The Secretary of the Navy shall establish a program to be known as the “National Oceanographic Partnership Program”.
The purposes of the program are as follows:
(1) To promote the national goals of assuring national security, advancing economic development, protecting quality of life, and strengthening science education and communication through improved knowledge of the ocean.
To coordinate and strengthen oceanographic efforts in support of those goals by—
(A) identifying and carrying out partnerships among Federal agencies, academia, industry, and other members of the oceanographic scientific community in the areas of data, resources, education, and communication; and
(B) reporting annually to Congress on the program.
(Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title II, § 282(a)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2470, § 7901; renumbered § 8931, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(d)(14), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1837.)