501 



on research. The agencies are also able to direct collective attention 

 to the acquisition of information which would help answ T er interna- 

 tional problems of resources management. Those activities do not 

 lessen the need for any nation to carry on research activities in its 

 own interests. 



Support and Opposition in the Senate 



Although the majority of House resolutions opposed this approach, 

 the Senate resolutions introduced by Senator Claiborne Pell were 

 strongly in favor of international cooperation, including a "Declara- 

 tion of Legal Principles Governing Activities of States in the Explora- 

 tion and Exploitation of Ocean Space." 85 



Hearings were held before the Senate Committee on Foreign Re- 

 lations on S.J. Res. Ill, 172, and 186. 86 S.J. Res. Ill was identical to the 

 House resolutions opposing the Malta proposal. It was described as 

 overstating the immediacy of the problem by addressing itself to a 

 danger which was not present. The sponsor of the bill, Senator Norris 

 Cotton, had no objection to the United Nations plowing the ground 

 and preparing the way in this matter of jurisdiction over the riches 

 of the sea. He said he wished Congress to become accessory before the 

 fact and not just after the fact : 



As to the form of my resolution [he said], I would say very frankly to the 

 committee, that the first draft of this resolution was prepared for me by repre- 

 sentatives of the National Oceanographic Association. As far as I am concerned, 

 this matter in my resolution of directing the American representatives in the 

 United Nations to oppose action or to take any particular attitude, I think, 

 might well be deleted. 67 



Reasons for Opposition 



The objections to any U.N. action stemmed primarily from fears that 

 the United States might be giving away some valuable assets and 

 rights the extent of which were not yet known. A hasty action to 

 relinquish these rights to the United Nations was deemed inadvisable. 



Some Members of Congress considered the United Nations unquali- 

 fied to assume such broad responsibilities. 88 Scientific exploration, 

 claimed some, could be seriously hampered by a premature definition 

 of political jurisdiction. The issue of national security was also in- 

 voked as an objection to any action that might not be compatible with 

 the military programs of the United States. One Member, Representa- 

 tive Paul Rogers of Florida, urged that for exploitation purposes the 

 United States should have the right to occupy the ocean floor to the 

 Mid-Atlantic Ridge and assume the responsibility to defend it. 



The objections finally boiled down to the timing of a move to deter- 

 mine where sovereignty lay or to effect a transfer of sovereignty to the 

 United Nations. There were also certain misgivings expressed about 

 the validity of existing definitions of the continental shelf, and a desire 



85 U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce. "Special Study on United Nations 

 Suboceanic Lands Policy." Hearings held Sept. 23, 24, Oct. 3, and Nov. 21, 1969 91st 

 Cong., first sess. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970). 



88 "Governing the Use of Ocean Space," hearings, op. cit. 



87 "Special Study on United Nations Suboceanic Lands Policy," hearings, op. cit. 



** Representative H. R. Gross stated : "Of course, I don't think the United Nations stands 

 for much of anything. It never has and probably never will, and that is one of the reasons 

 Yv. y £ d . on ' t want t0 sep anv authority in this matter vested in the United Nations." "In 

 the Lmted Nations and the Issue of Deep Ocean Resources.'' Op. cit, p 100 



