[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 12 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S611-S612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-403. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the Commonwealth of Massachusetts relative to the Highland 
     Links Golf Course in the Town of Truro, MA; to the Committee 
     on Energy and Natural Resources.

                               Resolution

       Whereas, the town of Truro was incorporated as a town of 
     this commonwealth in 1709; and
       Whereas, the Highlands Links is a 107 year-old golf course 
     located in Truro within the boundaries of the mational 
     seashore; and
       Whereas, the town of Truro has operated and managed the 
     Highland Links Golf Course for over 10 years in a 
     professional and efficient manner; and
       Whereas, the town of Truro is the only known municipality 
     in the United States operating a concession for the National 
     Park Service; and
       Whereas, the proposed interpretation of title IV of the 
     National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998, and the 
     proposed National Park Service rules, 36 CFR part 51, 
     interpret new concession contract procedures in a manner 
     requiring the National Park Service to solicit public bids to 
     operate the Highland Links Golf Course; and
       Whereas, such a public bid for these services would not be 
     in the public interest and would disturb a long-standing and 
     historically significant contractual arrangement benefiting 
     the town and its residents; and
       Whereas, private operation would harm the public interest 
     and destroy a piece of the unique character of Cape Cod; now 
     therefore be it
       Resolved, That the Massachusetts general court strongly 
     favors a change to the Code of Federal Regulations allowing a 
     contract for concessions to be awarded to a governmental unit 
     operating a concession in the public interest, without public 
     solicitation and respectfully requests the National Park 
     Service to accommodate the will of the town of Truro to 
     continue the unique arrangement for operation of the Highland 
     Links Golf Course as it has for 30 years; and be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
     forthwith by the Clerk of the Senate to the National Park 
     Service.
                                  ____

       POM-404. A resolution adopted by the House of the General 
     Assembly of the State of Rhode Island relative to the United 
     Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
     Discrimination Against Women; to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations

                            House Resolution

       Whereas, A twenty-year study by the United Nations reported 
     that women face discrimination in every region on earth; and
       Whereas, In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly 
     adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
     Discrimination Against Women, and President Carter sent the 
     convention to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 
     ratification where it has remained; and
       Whereas, Currently, one hundred sixty-five (165) nations, 
     including all of the industrialized world, except South 
     Africa and the United States, have agreed to be bound by the 
     convention's provisions; and
       Whereas, The spirit of the convention is rooted in the 
     goals of the United Nations to affirm faith in fundamental 
     human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person,

[[Page S612]]

     and in the equal rights of men and women; and
       Whereas, The convention provides a comprehensive framework 
     for challenging the various forces that have created and 
     sustained discrimination based on sex, and the nations in 
     support of the present convention have agreed to follow 
     convention prescriptions; and
       Whereas, Women constitute at least forty-one percent of the 
     work force worldwide yet are far behind men in pay, power, 
     and responsibility; and
       Whereas, Nearly seventy percent of the world's poor are 
     women; and
       Whereas, On average, women around the world earn thirty to 
     forty percent less than men for work of comparable value; and
       Whereas, Twelve countries have laws that do not allow women 
     to seek employment, open a bank account, or apply for a loan 
     without the husband's authorization; and
       Whereas, Thirty-three and six-tenths percent of the adult 
     female population is illiterate versus 19.4 percent of the 
     adult male population; and
       Whereas, Young women face discrimination in the classroom 
     which undermines their self-esteem and jeopardizes their 
     future performance; and
       Whereas, Over sixty percent of the women and girls in the 
     world live under conditions which threaten their health; and
       Whereas, Eleven percent of the women in industrialized 
     countries suffer from nutritional anemia, and up to two-
     thirds of pregnant women in Africa and much of Asia are 
     anemic; and
       Whereas, In Austria, violence against wives was cited as a 
     contributing factor in 59 percent of 1,500 divorce cases that 
     were reviewed; and
       Whereas, In the United States six million women are beaten 
     by their husbands or boyfriends each year, and 1,500 of them 
     will die; and
       Whereas, Battering is the major cause of injury to women in 
     the United States; and
       Whereas, In India, registered cases of women being killed 
     in disputes over their dowries soared from 999 in 1985 to 
     1,786 in 1987; and
       Whereas, Kuwait is the only country in the world that 
     extends voting privileges to certain citizens, but prohibits 
     all women from voting; and
       Whereas, Although women have made major gains in the 
     struggle for equality in social, business, political, legal, 
     educational, and other fields in this century, there is much 
     yet to be accomplished, and through its support and 
     leadership, the United States can help create a world where 
     women are no longer discriminated against and can achieve one 
     of the most fundamental of human rights, equality; now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That his House of Representatives of the State of 
     Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby respectfully 
     urges President William J. Clinton and Secretary of State 
     Madeleine Albright to place the United Nations Convention on 
     the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 
     in the highest category of priority in order to accelerate 
     the treaty's passage through the Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is 
     authorized and directed to transmit duly certified copies of 
     this resolution to the President of the United States, the 
     Secretary of State of the United States, the President of the 
     United States Senate, the Chair of the Senate Foreign 
     Relations Committee, and to the members of the Rhode Island 
     Delegation to the Congress of the United States.
                                  ____

       POM-405. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania relative to the 
     Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the United States 
     strategic petroleum reserves and to negotiate with OPEC or 
     non-OPEC countries for additional oil reserves or supplies; 
     to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

                           Senate Resolution

       Whereas, Fuel, in particular diesel fuel, and home heating 
     oil prices have skyrocketed to record highs in the first 
     weeks of 2000, threatening this Commonwealth's citizens' 
     well-being and safety to crisis proportions; and
       Whereas, Retail prices of home heating fuel and diesel fuel 
     in some areas of this Commonwealth have reached $2 per 
     gallon, and level rack prices of diesel fuel are 106% higher 
     than they were in the first week of February 1999; and
       Whereas, The impact of escalating oil prices on an industry 
     that is operating on narrow profit margins is being 
     compounded by driver shortages and other increased costs; and
       Whereas, These increases dramatically affect prices for 
     essential utility and municipal services, and increases in 
     transportation costs threaten jobs and could cause major 
     disruption of vital supplies and other goods and services; 
     and
       Whereas, Home heating oil supplies are extremely tight, 
     particularly in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, and 
     weather forecasts call for continued below-normal 
     temperatures; and
       Whereas, Refineries in Pennsylvania and other states must 
     produce more home heating fuel, which may cause shortages of 
     other oil products such as gasoline, kerosene and undyed 
     diesel fuel, thereby driving up prices accordingly; and
       Whereas, The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting 
     Countries (OPEC) has indicated its desire to extend existing 
     output cuts amounting to over 4 million barrels per day, 
     resulting in nearly triple prices in less than one year, 
     devastation to world economic growth and inflation; and
       Whereas, According to the International Energy Agency, 
     global oil supplies could be as much as 3 million barrels per 
     day below demand in the first quarter of 2000, and as much as 
     1.5 million barrels per day below requirements in the second 
     quarter; and
       Whereas, A mid-January snowstorm, which occurred in the 
     northeast region of the United States, triggered even faster 
     price increases in Pennsylvania, resulting in United States 
     light crude oil selling just 4 cents below the $30 per barrel 
     mark; therefore be it
       Resolved, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of 
     Pennsylvania urge the President of the United States and the 
     Secretary of Energy to take immediate action to release 
     emergency funding to the State for the Low Income Home Energy 
     Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and to release the United States 
     strategic petroleum reserves, negotiate release of additional 
     oil reserves from non-OPEC countries or negotiate with OPEC 
     on additional supplies; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the 
     President of the United States, the Secretary of Energy, the 
     presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each 
     member of Congress from Pennsylvania.

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