[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 21041]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      REMOVAL ON INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 106-8

  Mr. SESSIONS. As in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that 
the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following convention 
transmitted to the Senate on September 9, 1999, by the President of the 
United States:
  Convention (No. 176) Concerning Safety and Health in Mines (Treaty 
Document No. 106-8).
  I further ask that the convention 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 of the Convention (No. 176) Concerning Safety and Health 
in Mines, adopted by the International Labor Conference at its 82nd 
Session in Geneva on June 22, 1995, I transmit herewith a certified 
copy of that Convention.
  The report of the Department of State, with a letter from the 
Secretary of Labor, concerning the Convention is enclosed.
  As explained more fully in the enclosed letter from the Secretary of 
Labor, current United States law and practice fully satisfies the 
requirements of Convention No. 176. Ratification of this Convention, 
therefore, would not require the United States to alter in any way its 
law or practice in this field.
  Ratification of additional ILO conventions will enhance the ability 
of the United States to take other governments to task for failing to 
comply with the ILO instruments they have ratified. I recommend that 
the Senate give its advice and consent to the ratification of ILO 
Convention No. 176.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, September 9, 1999.

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