After recovering from the successful but energy-draining meeting in Monterey, your Council and Meetings Committee have been active in planning the next Society activities. Just completed in March was a Congressional Forum co-sponsored by the Council on Ocean Affairs, a group that represents nearly fifty oceanographic institutions. The Forum provided those Society members who could attend with a first-hand discussion of the issues that the Congress is facing now. Members of the House and Senate and their staffs and representatives of the Agencies provided a realistic view of the tradeoffs and political issues involved with coming up with a federal spending plan that all can agree to. The process for fiscal year 1991 (beginning October 1990) began in January and will probably continue until the fall. The meeting was aimed at determining the most effective actions for the oceanographic community in helping to maintain a healthy science. After the Forum, the Society held its obligatory annual Business Meeting, which will be summarized in the next issue of the magazine.

Baker, D.J. 1990. Society soundings: President’s report. Oceanography 3(1):56, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1990.25.

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