612 
WHEREAS, the United States, as a member of that 
United Nations Committee, has propesed that the exploration 
and use of the deep ocean floor be open to all states and 
their nationals without discrimination and in accordance with 
international nee and as a corollary of this that the 
exercise of poueres one or sovereign rights over any part 
of the deep ocean floor be ruled out; and 
WHEREAS, the treaty known as the 1958 Convention on 
the Continental Shelf in force between 37 nations, including 
the United States, recognizes that —— coastal state has 
"Eselusdwe soveréign rights for the purpose of" exploring and 
exploiting the natural resources of "the sea-bed and subsoil 
of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast . . . toa depth 
of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depen of 
the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the 
natural resources of the said areas"; and 
WHERFAS, it is generally recognized that the defini- 
tion in the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf of the 
boundary between the area of exclusive sovereign rights and 
the deep ocean floor needs to be-:clarified by an agreed 
interpretation; and 
WHEREAS, the House of Delegates, by its Resolution 
of August 9, 1966, stated that "prior to framing a policy ... 
