[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 593 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 17, 2007.
Whereas in 1973, on the University of California, Irvine campus, chemists F. 
        Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina began researching the depletion of 
        stratospheric ozone by the chlorofluorocarbon gases then used worldwide 
        as refrigerants and aerosol propellants;
Whereas on June 28, 1974, F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina published in the 
        scientific journal Nature, their path-breaking article, ``Stratospheric 
        Sink for Chlorofluoromethanes: Chlorine Atom-Catalysed Destruction of 
        Ozone'';
Whereas in 1976, the work of F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina connecting 
        chlorofluorocarbons and atmospheric ozone depletion was confirmed by the 
        National Academy of Sciences;
Whereas in 1978, the United States banned chlorofluorocarbons as propellants in 
        aerosol cans;
Whereas in 1987, because of the research of F. Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina, 
        Paul Crutzen, and many other scientists, the international community 
        acted through the adoption of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that 
        Deplete the Ozone Layer (``Montreal Protocol'');
Whereas the Montreal Protocol created the Multilateral Fund for the 
        Implementation of the Montreal Protocol which provides funds to help 
        developing countries to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances;
Whereas the Multilateral Fund for Implementation of the Montreal Protocol was 
        the first financial mechanism to be created under an international 
        treaty;
Whereas the Montreal Protocol recognized that world-wide emissions of certain 
        substances can significantly deplete and otherwise modify the ozone 
        layer in a manner that is likely to result in adverse effects on human 
        health and the environment;
Whereas because of the adoption of the Montreal Protocol the levels of 
        chlorofluorocarbon gases in the Earth's atmosphere have decreased;
Whereas on September 17, 1987, the Montreal Protocol was open for signatures;
Whereas to date, 191 nations have signed the Montreal Protocol;
Whereas F. Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina, and Paul Crutzen were awarded the 
        Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995 for their work in atmospheric 
        chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of 
        ozone; and
Whereas September 17, 2007, marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of 
        the Montreal Protocol: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates scientists F. Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina, and 
        Paul Crutzen for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly 
        concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone, that led to the 
        development of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the 
        Ozone Layer; and
            (2) encourages the continued research of the interaction of humans 
        and their actions with the Earth's ecosystem.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.