[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 69 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 69

 Providing for the United States to assume a strong leadership role in 
  implementing the decisions made at the Earth Summit by developing a 
    national strategy to implement Agenda 21 and other Earth Summit 
 agreements through domestic policy and foreign policy, by cooperating 
   with all countries to identify and initiate further agreements to 
protect the global environment, and by supporting and participating in 
   the high-level United Nations Sustainable Development Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 24 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

   Mr. Pell (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Wellstone) 
  introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Providing for the United States to assume a strong leadership role in 
  implementing the decisions made at the Earth Summit by developing a 
    national strategy to implement Agenda 21 and other Earth Summit 
 agreements through domestic policy and foreign policy, by cooperating 
   with all countries to identify and initiate further agreements to 
protect the global environment, and by supporting and participating in 
   the high-level United Nations Sustainable Development Commission.

Whereas the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 
        (hereinafter in this resolution referred to as ``UNCED''), known as the 
        Earth Summit, assembled in June of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 
        largest summit of heads of state in history and outlined a comprehensive 
        action plan (hereinafter in this resolution referred to as ``Agenda 
        21'') for environmentally sustainable development (hereinafter in this 
        resolution referred to as ``sustainable development'');
Whereas the United States has a strong national interest in the environmental 
        sustainability of global economic development;
Whereas Agenda 21 offers a significant starting point for continuing progress in 
        avoiding environmental degradation and social and economic 
        disintegration in the 21st century;
Whereas the role of the United States should be one of leadership and positive 
        action in the implementation process of Agenda 21 and all other 
        decisions of UNCED;
Whereas Agenda 21 urges all governments to adopt national strategies for 
        sustainable development;
Whereas Agenda 21 urges all countries to ``make significant progress'' in 
        incorporating environmental costs into economic decisions, to undertake 
        research or sustainable production methods and consumption patterns, and 
        to undertake other actions to make their economies more environmentally 
        sustainable;
Whereas Agenda 21 calls for a ``supportive international climate for achieving 
        environment and development goals'' by ``providing adequate financial 
        resources to developing countries and dealing with international debt'' 
        and calls for ``the reallocation of resources presently committed to 
        military purposes'' to support United States policies and the efforts of 
        developing countries to implement Agenda 21;
Whereas UNCED recommended that a high-level United Nations Commission on 
        Sustainable Development (hereinafter in this resolution referred to as 
        the ``Commission'') be established by the 47th United Nations General 
        Assembly to provide a vital forum to review progress made by considering 
        reports from national governments, international organizations, and 
        nongovernmental organizations;
Whereas many opportunities for agreements concerning more extensive actions on 
        critical issues remained unresolved at UNCED and will require further 
        attention by the nations of the world; and
Whereas the ultimate success of achieving sustainable development and a healthy 
        environment at the national and international levels depends upon 
        actions taken at the State and local community levels, and on actions by 
        schools, public offices, businesses, and citizens: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,
Effective follow-up to achieve the many goals of the agreements reached 
at UNCED will depend on the overall direction and action by the 
President and the Congress on the following:
            (1) The President and the Congress should adopt a national 
        strategy for environmentally sustainable development, based on 
        an extensive process of nationwide consultations with all 
        interested organizations and individuals, including State and 
        local governments, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, 
        and labor groups.
            (2) The President and the Congress should encourage and 
        facilitate, at all levels of community and sectors of society, 
        appropriate means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of 
        action, including the establishment of local, county, State, 
        business, and other boards and commissions for achieving 
        sustainable development. Each Member of the Congress should 
        help initiate this process within their States or districts.
            (3) The President, Secretary of State, and the Congress 
        should formulate initiatives and policies to help developing 
        countries develop the capacity to implement Agenda 21. The 
        Congress should restructure United States foreign assistance to 
        provide a fundamental mandate for sustainable development.
            (4) The President should establish an effective mechanism 
        to plan, initiate, and coordinate United States policy for 
        implementing Agenda 21. Responsibility should be vested in a 
        duly constituted office, headed by an appropriate high level 
        official, and the necessary staff support structure should be 
        provided.
            (5) In order to contribute to a transition to an 
        environmentally sustainable United States economy, the research 
        and policy initiatives urged in Agenda 21 should be pursued, 
        including research on environmentally sustainable consumption 
        patterns, identification of a strategy to eliminate or reduce 
        subsidies for unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and 
        move toward pricing policies that more truly reflect 
        environmental costs.
            (6) The Congress should adopt a system to reallocate an 
        appropriate amount of savings from reduced defense spending in 
        order to achieve the goals of Agenda 21 for global 
        environmental protection and sustainable development over the 
        next decade.
            (7) The President should promote and actively participate 
        in new and existing multilateral efforts aimed at creating a 
        more favorable international economic climate for developing 
        countries to practice sustainable development. Such efforts 
        should include--
                    (A) reduction in developing country debt, linked 
                with environmental policy reforms;
                    (B) focusing the work of multilateral donor 
                consultative groups which now exist for each of some 
                eighty developing countries on evaluation of, and 
                support for, their national sustainable development 
                strategies; and
                    (C) increasing loans and concessional assistance to 
                developing countries where implementation of national 
                sustainable development strategies are underway.
            (8) The United States should actively support the 
        Commission authorized by the 47th United Nations General 
        Assembly. The United States should seek a strong role for the 
        Commission in the United Nations system to monitor and evaluate 
        progress in meeting the goals identified in Agenda 21 and other 
        decisions at UNCED. The United States should pursue a strong 
        sustainable development mandate for all relevant activities of 
        the United Nations and a catalytic role for the Commission in 
        coordinating and facilitating the implementation of that 
        mandate.
            (9) The President should affirm strong United States 
        commitment to the Commission by--
                    (A) appointing a high-level representative or 
                delegation from the United States to the Commission, 
                including, as appropriate, representation at the 
                ministerial level and Congressional and non-government 
                observers, and
                    (B) supporting the United Nations Secretary General 
                for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development in 
                coordinating the implementation of Agenda 21 in the 
                United Nations system and heading the secretariat 
                support structure for the Commission;
            (10) The President should submit a national report to the 
        Commission on--
                    (A) activities the United States has undertaken to 
                implement Agenda 21, both domestically and 
                internationally, on progress made toward fulfilling 
                other commitments undertaken at UNCED; and
                    (B) other environmental and developmental 
                activities the United States has undertaken to 
                strengthen agreements reached at UNCED.
        The President should strongly encourage all United Nations 
        members to submit such national reports.
            (11) The United States should support rules of procedure 
        for the Commission which ensure the active participation of 
        nongovernmental organizations, based on the procedures used in 
        UNCED as agreed in paragraphs 38.11 and 38.44 of Agenda 21, and 
        should also encourage the active participation in the 
        Commission of representatives of the international financial 
        institutions, GATT, regional and subregional development banks 
        and financial institutions, and regional economic integration 
        organizations.
            (12) The President should submit an annual report to the 
        Congress on the steps taken by the United States to implement 
        Agenda 21 and the recommendations made by this resolution, and 
        should make information regarding such steps available to 
        Members of the Congress upon their request.

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