[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 208 (Monday, December 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6021-S6022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY-TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 118-1

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted 
to the Senate on December 18, 2023, by the President of the United 
States: the Treaties with the Republic of Cuba and the Government of 
the United Mexican States on the Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries, 
Treaty Document No. 118-1. I further ask that the treaty be considered 
as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with 
accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered 
to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The message of the President is as follows:

To the Senate of the United States:
  With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith two bilateral maritime boundary 
Treaties: the Treaty between the United States of America and the 
Republic of Cuba on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the 
Eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 Nautical Miles (the ``United States-
Cuba Treaty'' ), and the Treaty between the Government of the United 
States of America and the Government of the United Mexican States on 
the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico 
(the ``United States-Mexico Treaty'') (together, the ``Treaties''), 
both of which were signed at Washington on January 18, 2017. I also 
transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the 
Department of State with respect to the Treaties.
  The purpose of the Treaties is to establish our continental shelf 
boundaries in the eastern Gulf of Mexico with Cuba and Mexico in areas 
beyond 200 nautical miles from shore. The United States-Cuba Treaty 
establishes a maritime boundary of approximately 30 nautical miles in 
length, and the United States-Mexico Treaty establishes a maritime 
boundary of approximately 79 nautical miles in length. The boundaries 
define the limit within which each country may exercise maritime 
jurisdiction with respect to its portion of the continental shelf. The 
boundaries address the only remaining area in the Gulf of Mexico where 
the maritime boundaries between the United States and its neighbors had 
not been agreed.
  The United States-Cuba Treaty also establishes procedures for 
addressing the possibility of oil and gas reservoirs that extend across 
the continental shelf boundary, which will help protect related United 
States interests. With respect to Mexico, such procedures were 
developed and set forth in a separate agreement that is already in 
force, as described in the report of the Department of State 
accompanying this message.
  I believe the Treaties to be fully in the interest of the United 
States. In light of the relevant coastal geography, the Treaties 
allocate approximately two-thirds of the area in question to the United 
States, and they provide legal certainty with respect to United States 
sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the continental shelf.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to

[[Page S6022]]

the Treaties, and give its advice and consent to ratification.
                                                 Joseph R. Biden, Jr.  
The White House, December 18, 2023.

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