[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 211 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 211

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
     conditions for the United States becoming a signatory to any 
 international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under the United 
            Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 1997

Mr. Knollenberg submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
              to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
     conditions for the United States becoming a signatory to any 
 international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under the United 
            Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (in this 
        resolution referred to as the ``Convention''), adopted in May 1992, 
        entered into force in 1994 and is not yet fully implemented;
Whereas the Convention, intended to address climate change on a global basis, 
        identifies the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe 
        and the Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 
        including the United States, as ``Annex I Parties'', and the remaining 
        129 countries, including China, Mexico, India, Brazil, and South Korea, 
        as ``Developing Country Parties'';
Whereas in April 1995, the Convention's ``Conference of the Parties'' adopted 
        the so-called ``Berlin Mandate'';
Whereas the ``Berlin Mandate'' calls for the adoption, as soon as December 1997, 
        in Kyoto, Japan, of a protocol or another legal instrument that 
        strengthens commitments to limit greenhouse gas emissions by Annex I 
        Parties for the post-2000 period and establishes a negotiation process 
        called the ``Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate'';
Whereas the ``Berlin Mandate'' specifically exempts all Developing Country 
        Parties from any new commitments in such negotiation process for the 
        post-2000 period;
Whereas although the Convention, approved by the United States Senate, called on 
        all signatory parties to adopt policies and programs aimed at limiting 
        their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in July 1996 the Undersecretary of 
        State for Global Affairs called for the first time for ``legally 
        binding'' emission limitation targets and timetables for Annex I 
        Parties, a position reiterated by the Secretary of State in testimony 
        before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on January 8, 
        1997;
Whereas greenhouse gas emissions of Developing Country Parties are rapidly 
        increasing and are expected to surpass emissions of the United States 
        and other OECD countries as early as 2015;
Whereas the Department of State has declared that it is critical for the Parties 
        to the Convention to include Developing Country Parties in the next 
        steps for global action and, therefore, has proposed that consideration 
        of additional steps to include limitations on Developing Country 
        Parties' greenhouse gas emissions would not begin until after a protocol 
        or other legal instrument is adopted in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997;
Whereas the exemption for Developing Country Parties is inconsistent with the 
        need for global action on climate change and is environmentally flawed;
Whereas the House of Representatives strongly believes that the proposals under 
        negotiation, because of the disparity of treatment between Annex I 
        Parties and Developing Countries and the level of required emission 
        reductions, could result in serious harm to the United States economy, 
        including significant job loss, trade disadvantages, increased energy 
        and consumer costs, or any combination thereof; and
Whereas it is desirable that a bipartisan group of Members of the House of 
        Representatives be appointed by the Majority and Minority Leaders of the 
        House of Representatives for the purpose of monitoring the status of 
        negotiations on Global Climate Change and reporting periodically to the 
        House of Representatives on those negotiations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States should not be a signatory to any 
        protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations 
        Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations 
        in Kyoto in December 1997, or thereafter, which would--
                    (A) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce 
                greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex I Parties, 
                unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates 
                new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce 
                greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties 
                within the same compliance period, or
                    (B) would result in serious harm to the economy of 
                the United States; and
            (2) any such protocol or other agreement which would 
        require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification 
        should be accompanied by a detailed explanation of any 
        legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to 
        implement the protocol or other agreement and should also be 
        accompanied by an analysis of the detailed financial costs and 
        other impacts on the economy of the United States which would 
        be incurred by the implementation of the protocol or other 
        agreement.
    Sec. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit a 
copy of this resolution to the President.
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