28 



Mr. Fascell. You have made a lot of points with the subcom- 

 mittee with that action. 



Without objection, we will include your statement in the record. 

 (The statement referred to follows:) 



Statement of the Hon. Ed Reinecke, of California, on the Pending 

 House Joint Resolution 824 and Similar Legislation 



Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before this Committee 

 to express my grave concern about a proposed action in the United Nations 

 General Assembly. 



The Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations has proposed for the 

 agenda of the General Assembly "a declaration and treaty concerning the reserva- 

 tion exclusively for peaceful purposes of the seabed and of the ocean floor, under- 

 lying the seas beyond the limits of present national jurisdiction, and the use of 

 their resources in the interests of mankind." 



As a member of the House Merchant Marine Subcommittee on Oceanography 

 I am alarmed at the pandora's box of international political and technological 

 problems which would be created by this Maltese Resolution. 



Like the proverbial iceberg, however, there is more here than meets the eye. 

 The proposed resolution by Malta is not the only action pending before the 

 United Nations on this subject The Soviet Union has announced its intention 

 to introduce a resolution before the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commis- 

 sion of UNESCO to create a working group to draft a convention to deal with 

 exploration and exploitation of mineral resources beneath the high seas. 



The Russians have chosen this particular forum of the United Nations in which 

 to take their action because several of the high positions in the I.O.C. are held by 

 citizens of the Soviet Union. Their exi^erience has been that they usually receive 

 very sympathetic treatment in this organization. 



Farther down the road is the critical date of 1969 when consideration of revisions 

 of the Geneva Convention of the Continental Shelf becomes in order, at the end of 

 the first five years of that Convention's operation. Considerable stud}- is being 

 given to a re-definition of the continental shelf. Experience has shown there are 

 problems with the present three-dimensional definition which reads, "to a depth of 

 200 meters, or beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters ad- 

 mits of the exploitation of the natural resources." 



Problems involving very deep trenches which separate continental shelves from 

 coastal nations ; of the very limitations of an arbitrary 200 meter isobath ; and the 

 fact that effective exploitation of the ocean floor can now be accomplished at 

 depths far beyond the 200 meter figure will probably be discussed in 1969 at a new 

 convention meeting. 



As we trace the history of United Nations action concerning exploitation and 

 jurisdiction over the ocean floor and its resources we find, unfortunately, that we 

 are in the present situation because of action which was taken by our own Govern- 

 ment just last year. 



Our Ambassador to UNESCO the Hon. James Roosevelt, formerly a member 

 of the House of Representatives, authored a resolution instructing the Secretary 

 General of the United Nations to conduct a study to coordinate all of the tech- 

 nological projects dealing with oceanography conducted by the various nations. 

 By bringing all of these programs under UN coordination, it was stated that 

 there would be great exchange of technical data, greater expediting of technical 

 study, and more efficiency in gathering information. 



This resolution, number 2172, was passed by the United Nations General 

 Assembly on December 8, 1966. This action was taken after the Congress had 

 enacted the Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966 which 

 strengthened significantly this nation's oceanographic programs. 



Frankly, Mr. Chairman, it seems that in this Administration the right hand 

 does not know what the left hand is doing. On the one hand steps are taken to 

 significantly advance the marine resources and oceanographic programs of the 

 United States for our own national interests. And on the other hand action is 

 taken to give it all away to an international organization over which we have 

 little, if any, influence, except to pay the bills. 



The stated purpose of the Marine Resources and Engineering Development 

 Act of 1966 was to encourage private investment in ocean activities; to accelerate 

 development of marine resources, and to preserve the United States as a leader 



