[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 88 (Monday, July 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  SENATE RESOLUTION 239--ORIGINAL RESOLUTION REPORTED EXPRESSING THE 
      SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED U.S. 
       PARTICIPATION UNDER THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

  Mr. PELL, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, Reported the 
following original resolution; which was placed on the calendar:

                              S. Res. 239

       Resolved,

     SECTION. 1. UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION UNDER THE CONVENTION.

       It is the sense of the Senate that, in formulating United 
     States participation under the Convention on Biological 
     Diversity, the President should ensure that--
       (1) any proposal for funding of United States participation 
     under the Convention includes specific offsets within the 
     United States budget to ensure the United States budgetary 
     deficit is not increased;
       (2) a restructured Global Environmental Facility is the 
     financing mechanism referred to in the Convention;
       (3) further decisions under the Convention provide adequate 
     and effective protections for intellectual property and are 
     not weaker than those provided under the General Agreement on 
     Tariffs and Trade, under United States laws, or under the 
     laws of other developed countries;
       (4) the United States has received a vote in all 
     institutions, organizations, and mechanisms created under the 
     Convention that is commensurate with the level of United 
     States assessed contributions under the Convention;
       (5) the biological safety protocol is submitted to the 
     Senate for its advice and consent to ratification; and
       (6) United States contributions under the Convention are 
     solely dependent upon appropriations by the United States 
     Congress and is not bound by assessments of organizations 
     created under the Convention.

     SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.

       It is the sense of the Senate that the President should 
     provide a report one year after the date of entry into force 
     of the Convention, and every year thereafter, to the Speaker 
     of the House of Representatives and to the Chairman of the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate outlining the 
     status of United States participation under the Convention 
     and specifically explaining the status of the following:
       (1) The costs of United States participation under the 
     Convention during the preceding one year period, and the 
     total amount of projected expenditures under the Convention 
     for the subsequent five year period.
       (2) The financing mechanism and whether it includes a 
     restructured Global Environment Facility.
       (3) Whether decisions under the Convention provide adequate 
     and effective protections for intellectual property and, 
     specifically, whether those protections provided under the 
     Convention are weaker than those protections--
       (A) provided under United States laws,
       (B) provided in other developed countries, or
       (C) provided under the Uruguay Round of the General 
     Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
       (4) Whether the United States has received a vote in all 
     aspects of the furtherance of goals under the Convention that 
     is commensurate with the level of United States assessed 
     contributions under the Convention.
       (5) The biological safety protocol and whether it was 
     adopted in consultation with the United States Senate and the 
     United States biotechnology industry.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

       As used in this resolution, the term ``Convention'' means 
     the Convention on Biological Diversity, signed in New York on 
     June 4, 1993.

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