VII. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY 
CONFRONTING THE IssuES 
On August 17, 1967, the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United 
Nations proposed in a note verbale that the 22nd U.N. General Assem- 
bly scheduled to convene the following month place on its agenda the 
following item: 
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. 
The accompanying explanatory memorandum proposed that the 
seabed and ocean floor are a common heritage of mankind and the net 
financial benefits derived from the use and exploitation of the seabed 
and of the ocean floor shall be used primarily to promote the develop- 
ment of poor countries. The memorandum proposed that an interna- 
tional agency should be created to administer and control exploitation 
of the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. 
Many countries saw this as a welcome opportunity to gain a share 
of an immense wealth if the technology could be developed to recover 
it. As the poorer countries were in no position to develop the expensive 
and sophisticated technology to exploit the seabed resources, this pro- 
posal to benefit directly from the ability of the technologically ad- 
vanced nations had widespread support. The extent of this wealth was 
poorly defined, but the developing nations generally assumed that the 
seabed contained vast resources of oil and minerals that could help 
bring them to an economic par with the developed nations. 
The sudden popularity of the Malta proposal was due to the timeli- 
ness of its presentation in the United Nations. The concept had been 
previously developed by the United States but had received little 
notice. In 1966, President Johnson said : 
Under no circumstances, we believe, must we ever allow the prospect of rich 
harvest and mineral wealth to create a new form of colonial competition among 
the maritime nations. We must be careful to avoid a race to grab and to hold the 
lands under the high seas. We must insure that the deep seas and the ocean 
bottoms are, and remain, the legacy of all human beings.* 
LEGISLATIVE CoNCERN IN THE 90TH CONGRESS 
Although the U.S. delegation supported the Maltese proposal, the 
possibility of the United Nations taking immediate action to reserve 
the seabed beyond national jurisdiction for the common heritage of 
mankind aroused the concern of many members of Congress. Nearly 
two dozen resolutions were introduced into Congress during the months 
of August and September 1967 expressing opposition to the control of 
deep ocean resources by an international authority. Congressional en- 
dorsements of the Malta proposal were much less numerous. 
1 Speech given at the commissioning of the research ship Oceanographer, at the Washing- 
ton Navy Yard on July 13, 1966. 
(59) 
