1083 
Mr. Lennon. Thank you, Mr. Pollack. 
Mr. Mosher. 
Mr. Mosuer. Mr. Pollack, going back to pages 7 and 8 of your testi- 
mony, where you have recognized the difficult problem of establishing 
a boundary between the offshore limit of national jurisdiction and the 
area beyond it which is to be governed by the international regime, 
you recognize that there is a wide divergence of views. 
Has the State Department formulated any precise recommendations 
that you are making? Are you definite in your thinking as to what po- 
sition this country should take on that difficult question ¢ 
Mr. Potiack. No, sir. At this point in time, the State Department 
has not arrived at an agency position with respect to that question. 
Mr. Mosuer. As I remember it, the Stratton Commission did make 
a precise recommendation, did they not ? 
Mr. Potuack. Yes, sir. They did. 
Mr. Mosuer. I don’t have the report here in front of me, and I don’t 
have in my head precisely what that recommendation was, but does 
the State Department has some doubts, some questions as to that 
recommendation ? 
Do you want to point out what the weaknesses may be in that rec- 
ommendation by the Stratton Commission ? 
Mr. Potnack. The recommendation of the Stratton Commission was 
a proposal for an intermediate zone, and the proposal for an interme- 
diate zone is certainly among the leading contenders for serious con- 
sideration as to what position the United States and the international 
community might ultimately adopt with respect to this question of a 
boundary. 
I would say simply that any proposal that 1s made gives rise to 
choices between alternatives. The question of the distinction between 
the rules that will relate to an intermediate zone and to the area 
clearly within national jurisdiction and the area that clearly will lie 
beyond, as well as the separation of the manner in which behavior of 
the explorers and exploiters will take place in this area, is one on 
which there is not so much a question of defects in a proposal, but 
questions of whether the balance that would be arrived at under the 
Stratton Commission proposal is the one that would be most desirable 
from the total viewpoint of the United States’ interests. 
Mr. Mosuer. Do you think there will be any consensus at all in the 
international community in the next year on this subject ? 
Mr. Potiack. My own judgment will be that it will be a longer 
process than that, sir. 
Mr. Mosuer. Longer than a year ? 
Mr. Pottack. Yes. We have contemplated, and I have seen nothing 
that will alter judgment on this, that we have begun a discussion sev- 
eral years ago that could take many years to bring to a conclusion. 
Mr. Mosuer. Do any of the more sophisticated nations involved, 
sophisticated in terms of their technology and their interest, have 
precise positions that they are pushing and sticking to? 
Mr. Potxiack. No nation has, at this point. None of the advanced 
nations has revealed any clarity on that. 
Mr. Mosuer. Russia’s position would be essentially the same as ours 
at this point, in terms of “Wait and see” ? 
26—563—70—pt. 2——37 
