[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 64 (Thursday, May 15, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2778-H2779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ISSUE HAS BEEN LINGERING TOO LONG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Linder] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I bring to the attention of this body an 
international legal issue of expropriation that has been lingering 
since the early 1980's, but began off the coast of Cartegina well over 
two hundred years ago. It is a tale of buried treasure that has 
resulted in the foreign defiance of accepted property rights in salvage 
laws at the expense of an American company.
  By way of background, after encountering an enemy British fleet, the 
Spanish galleon San Jose was sunk with a treasury estimated at over $2 
billion in today's value. The San Jose and its treasure remained hidden 
at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years, until a United States 
company--known today as Sea Search Armada--discovered the wreck of the 
San Jose. Under recognized international salvage and admiralty laws, 
the discoverer of this find has the right to salvage the

[[Page H2779]]

wreck and receive half of the value of the recovered treasures. Sea 
Search Armada discovered the San Jose wreck in 1983.
  Unfortunately, the past 14 years have witnessed an extraordinary 
effort by the Government of Colombia to claim exclusive ownership of 
the treasure of the sunken galleon. In clear disregard of accepted law, 
the government enacted retroactive changes in its salvage law that 
would have reduced the share of the treasure payable to the American 
company from the accepted 50 percent to a taxable 5 percent. 
Thankfully, the Colombian Constitutional Court declared the order 
unconstitutional.
  In an August 1996 letter to International Relations Committee 
Chairman Ben Gilman, the Columbia government stated that a ruled had 
not yet been uttered by the Superior Court of Barranquilla and that the 
Government ``will not make any decisions until after a verdict'' is 
made by this judicial court. The decision of the Magistrates of the 
Superior of Barranquilla--like all previous court decisions--was in Sea 
Search Armada's favor and recognized its claim to 50 percent of the 
treasure of the San Jose. Regrettably, the Colombian government's 
attorney general will now be appealing the decision once again.
  This case has gone on too long. It is high time that the Government 
of Colombia end its decade-long litigation against the Sea Search 
Armada company and resolve this matter.
  We are faced with a situation in which the legitimate property rights 
of an American company have been expropriated in disregard to the 
recognized rights of ownership under Colombian and international law. 
When deprived of property in defiance of international law, American 
citizens should expect their government to ensure that preferential 
treatment is not given to the delinquent party, as this body has done 
in the past.
  Mr. Speaker, the rulings from every Colombian court and from experts 
panels have defined the rights of the discovering party. Following the 
decision by the Superior Court, the Colombian government has been 
provided with an important opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to 
abide by the rule of law. I believe that Colombia's recognition of the 
judicial ruling will send a reassuring message to potential American 
investors and will assure that the cooperation between our nation and 
Colombia improves in the future.

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