A nice little document discusses the early beginnings of the IOOS. Here's the first paragraph from the Prologue:
In August 1998, Congressmen Curt Weldon (R-PA) and James Saxton (R-NJ), Chairs of the Subcommittee on Military Research and Development and the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans, respectively, sent a letter to John Dalton, the Secretary of the Navy, and D. James Baker, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in their capacity as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the National Ocean Research Leadership Council (NORLC) of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP). These letters requested the NORLC to "propose a plan to achieve a truly integrated ocean observing system."