[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 150 (Tuesday, October 20, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H11682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING SALE OR DIVERSION OF GREAT LAKES
WATER
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee
on International Relations be discharged from further consideration of
the resolution (H. Res. 566) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the President and the Senate should take the
necessary actions to prevent the sale or diversion of Great Lakes water
to foreign countries, businesses, corporations, and individuals until
procedures are established to guarantee that any such sale is fully
negotiated between and approved by the governments concerned, and ask
for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the resolution as follows:
H. Res. 566
Whereas the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are
precious public natural resources, shared and held in trust
by the Great Lakes States and the Canadian Provinces;
Whereas the Great Lakes need to be carefully managed and
protected in order to meet current and future water needs
within the Great Lakes Basin and the Canadian Provinces;
Whereas any new diversions of Great Lakes waters for use
outside of the Great Lakes Basin will have significant
adverse effects on the environment, economy, and welfare of
the Great Lakes region;
Whereas the Province of Ontario, Canada, has authorized an
Ontario company to divert water from the Great Lakes for sale
to Asia;
Whereas 4 of the Great Lakes contain international waters,
and are defined as ``boundary waters'' in the Boundary Waters
Treaty of 1909 between the United States and Canada, and
therefore any new diversion of Great Lakes water would affect
the relations between the Government of the United States and
the Government of Canada;
Whereas as trustees of the Great Lakes Basin's natural
resources, the Great Lakes States and Provinces have a shared
duty to protect, conserve, and manage the renewable but
finite waters of the Great Lakes Basin for the use, benefit,
and enjoyment of all their citizens, and future generations;
and
Whereas the most effective means of protecting, conserving,
and managing the water resources of the Great Lakes is
through the joint pursuit of unified and cooperative
principles, policies, and programs mutually agreed upon,
enacted, and adhered to by each and every Great Lakes State
and Province: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that the President and the Senate should act
to prevent the sale or diversion of Great Lakes water to
foreign countries, businesses, corporations, and individuals
until procedures are established to guarantee that any such
sale or diversion is fully negotiated and approved by
representatives of the United States Government and the
Government of Canada, in consultation with any Great Lakes
State or Province that could be impacted by such a sale or
diversion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) is
recognized for one hour.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to just note that this is a measure
introduced by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak). The minority on
our committee asked that committee consideration be waived so the
resolution could be brought to the floor today. I am pleased to support
the minority's request.
This resolution has the bipartisan cosponsorship of Members from
Great Lakes states responding to a unilateral move by a Canadian
province to authorize a private company to sell Great Lakes water to
Asia.
I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 566 is a resolution that is meant to
send the message that we, the House of Representatives, are serious
about protecting our Great Lakes and will not sit idly by and allow our
Great Lakes water to be sold to foreign countries.
This resolution was originally introduced last spring after the
Province of Ontario in Canada approved a permit that allows the Nova
Group, an Ontario-based company, to divert three billion liters of
water from Lake Superior over the next five years and sell it to Asia.
After considerable public outcry against this proposal, the Ministry
of the Environment of Ontario announced that the permit issued to the
Nova Group would be canceled.
Recently, however, the Nova Group asked the Ontario environmental
appeal board to overturn the decision withdrawing the permit and to
allow it to proceed with its bid to export fresh water to several Asian
countries. Hearings are scheduled on the permit for this fall.
Allowing the diversion of billions of liters of water from the Great
Lakes would create dangerous consequences for the Great Lakes region
and the United States.
This permit could open the door for additional water diversion
opportunities, putting the waters of all the Great Lakes on the world
market.
This could lead to larger scale diversions of water in the future
that could have adverse effects on the environment, economy, and
welfare of the Great Lakes region.
H. Res. 566 calls on the President and the Senate to prevent the sale
or diversion of Great Lakes water to foreign countries until it is
possible to fully negotiate this proposal and its implications.
Mr. Speaker, we could literally be opening up Pandora's box with the
sale of Great Lakes water to foreign countries. We cannot afford to
turn our Great Lakes into a tradable commodity.
We must pass this legislation and send the message to Canada that our
Great Lakes are not for sale to foreign countries.
I'd like to thank Chairman Gilman, Mr. Hamilton, Chairman Gallegly,
and Mr. Ackerman for their help on this matter. I would especially like
to thank Mr. LaTourette of Ohio and Mr. Bonior of Michigan for their
leadership on this issue.
I urge my colleagues to support this nonbinding resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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