78 



Whereas the development of these resources through international cooperation 

 could be a boon to mankind providing a source of revenue that could solve the 

 financial problems of the United Nations and could help to meet the desperate 

 needs of the less fortunate areas of the world, vrhich create a dangerous imbal- 

 an<e between rich and poor nations ; .-ind 



Whereas the development of such resources if allowed to become the subject of 

 rivalry and competition among nations could become a dangerous source of 

 possible armed conflict ; and 



Whereas the President of the United States has stated : "The wealth of the 

 ocean floor must be freed for the benefit of all people" ; and 



Whereas the following item has been included on the agenda of the current 

 twenty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly : "Declaration 

 and treaty concerning the reservation exclusively for peaceful purposes of the 

 seabed and of the ocean floor, underlying the seas beyond the limits of present 

 national jurisdiction, and the use of their resources in the interests of 

 mankind" : Now, therefore, be it 

 Resolved by the House of Representatives {the Senate concurring) , That it is 



the sense of the Congress that — 



(1) the resources on and below the world's oceans beyond the Continental 

 Shelf should be developed through international cooperation rather than by 

 rivalry among nations ; 



(2) the President should initiate within the United States Government, 

 and should support at the United Nations and in other appropriate interna- 

 tional agencies, such steps as will lead to the development of such resources 

 through international cooperation ; 



(3) as the first such step, intensive studies should be undertaken as to 

 the most desirable method of achieving this objective, including the possi- 

 bility of a treaty. 



The subject to which these resolutions address themselves is ex- 

 tremely complex and, judging from the number of inquiries and expres- 

 sions which our subcommittee has received thus far, rather contro- 

 versial. 



On the one hand, there are people who believe that resources located 

 on the bottom of the oceans, like the seas above them, belong to the 

 entire human community and should be exploited under United Na- 

 tions supervision. 



On the other hand, there are those who feel equally strongly that 

 these resources belong to no one in particular and should remain avail- 

 able for exploitation by the coastal countries, including the United 

 States. 



What is not clear, at this point, are the ultimate consequences of im- 

 plementing either of these two propositions. 



For example, if the United Nations were given authority to super- 

 vise the exploration and the exploitation of resources located on the 

 bottom of the oceans, how far would this authority extend ? 



Would it come to within 3 miles oil our shores ? 



Would it supersede arrangements embodied in the Convention on 

 the Continental Shelf? 



And, what effect would it have on the various extractive undertak- 

 ings already underway in the North Sea and in several other offshore 

 areas ? 



In contrast, if the oceans were to be divided between the coastal 

 States on the basis of principles outlined in the Convention on the 

 Continental Shelf, is it not true that two or three countries — particu- 

 larly France and Great Britain — would become the chief beneficiaries 

 of that approach ? 



