[House Report 113-204]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-204
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TO DESIGNATE THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OF THE UNITED STATES AS THE
RONALD WILSON REAGAN EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OF THE UNITED STATES
_______
September 10, 2013.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 553]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 553) to designate the exclusive economic zone of
the United States as the Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive
Economic Zone of the United States, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that
the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 553 is to designate the exclusive
economic zone of the United States as the ``Ronald Wilson
Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.''
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The concept of designating the territorial waters of a
sovereign nation has its historical roots in the 1600s when
European colonial powers tried to protect their shores by
adopting the ``cannon shot'' rule. This term reflected the
principle that dominion over certain lands stopped where the
range of coastal artillery weapons ended. It was generally
agreed that three miles, which is measured from the territorial
sea baseline, was the appropriate designation line and the
United States made such a claim in 1789.
In 1799, the 5th Congress of the United States adopted
legislation to allow the boarding of foreign flag vessels
within 12 nautical miles. On September 28, 1945, the U.S.
became the first country to abandon the 3-mile limit when
President Harry Truman signed a Proclamation declaring that
this nation had the right to all of the ocean resources that
existed on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Proclamation states
that ``Having concern for the urgency of conserving and
prudently utilizing its natural resources, the Government of
the United States regards the natural resources of the subsoil
and seabed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but
contiguous to the coasts of the United States as appertaining
to the United States, subject to its jurisdiction and
control.''
On June 23, 1947 and August 1, 1947, the Governments of
Chile and Peru became the first two nations to establish a 200-
mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The definition of this term
is ``a maritime zone adjacent to the territorial sea that may
not exceed beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from
which the breath of the territorial sea is measured.'' It
allows a coastal nation the sole right to explore and extract
all natural resources from the ocean up to 200 miles off its
shores. The Chilean Declaration proclaimed natural
``sovereignty over submarine areas, regardless of their size or
depth, as well as over the adjacent seas extending as far as
necessary to reserve, protect, maintain, and utilize natural
resources and wealth.''
On March 10, 1983, President Ronald Wilson Reagan signed
Presidential Proclamation 5030. This historic document
established the 200-mile U.S. EEZ which was defined as a zone
contiguous to the territorial sea, including zones contiguous
to the territorial sea of the United States, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands and the United States overseas territories and
possessions. Within the EEZ, the United States has sovereign
rights for the purpose of conserving, exploiting, exploring and
managing natural resources of the seabed and subsoil for the
economic exploitation and exploration of the zone. In addition,
the U.S. has jurisdiction over the establishment and use of
artificial islands and installations, and for the protection
and preservation of the marine environment.
The Proclamation also made it clear that it does not change
existing United States policies concerning the continental
shelf, fisheries including highly migratory species, freedom of
navigation and overflight and the management of marine mammals.
While the United States was not the first nation to
establish an EEZ, it has the largest such zone with 7,094,375
miles, which is nearly 25 percent larger than the country's
total land mass. It extends from the Arctic Ocean to the
tropics, comprising at least 11 different ecosystems. The next
four nations in terms of EEZ size are France, Australia, Russia
and the United Kingdom. In total, more than 150 nations have
established an EEZ. Over the years, some of the more heated
international EEZ boundary disputes involved the so-called
``Cod Wars'' between the United Kingdom and Iceland, a dispute
over oil reserves in the Beaufort Sea involving Canada and the
United States and arguments between Norway and Russia over who
controls the Svalbard Archipelago.
H.R. 553 will simply designate our EEZ as the ``Ronald
Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.''
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 553 was introduced on February 6, 2013, by Congressman
Darrell Issa (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs. On June 13,
2013, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 31,
2013, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and
Insular Affairs was discharged by unanimous consent.
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) offered an amendment
designated _028 to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by a
bipartisan roll call vote of 14 to 24, as follows:
No further amendments were offered, and the bill was then
adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 22, 2013.
Hon. Doc Hastings,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives. Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 553, a bill to designate the exclusive economic
zone of the United States as the ``Ronald Wilson Reagan
Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States,'' as ordered
reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July
31, 2013.
CBO estimates that enacting this legislation to name the
exclusive economic zone, which includes coastal waters
extending from three to nine miles off the coast to 200 miles
offshore, would have no significant impact on the federal
budget and would not affect direct spending or revenues;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. H.R. 553
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. CBO estimates that
enacting this legislation would have no significant impact on
the federal budget and would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to designate the exclusive economic
zone of the United States as the ``Ronald Wilson Reagan
Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States''.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.
DISSENTING VIEWS
The framework that allows nations to peacefully claim a 200
nautical mile (nm) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and establish
sovereign rights to the natural resources within it is the 1982
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A
total of 162 nations have endorsed UNCLOS, including all of the
major Western powers except the United States. The major East
Asian powers are also parties to UNCLOS. Both Japan and China
ratified the treaty in 1996. The United States played a
prominent and successful role in drafting and negotiating
UNCLOS, yet it was neither signed by President Reagan nor
ratified by the Senate during the Reagan Administration.
However, President Reagan did claim the U.S. EEZ by
Presidential Proclamation in 1983, pursuant to the authority
created by UNCLOS. Cherry-picking this particular piece of
UNCLOS without supporting the treaty itself showed poor
leadership, and was a failure to take advantage of the momentum
the treaty had gained at the time. The Senate has since failed
to ratify UNCLOS despite the support of both Bush
administrations, the Clinton and Obama administrations,
secretaries of State and Defense under Republican and
Democratic presidents, the oil and natural gas industry, and
other industries with interests in our territorial waters.
UNCLOS accession by the United States would be prudent
considering the substantial benefits it offers for navigation,
security, and environmental protection.
H.R. 553 would designate the U.S. EEZ, as the ``Ronald
Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.''
The bill would deem any reference to the EEZ in a law, map,
regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United
States to be a reference to the ``Ronald Wilson Reagan
Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.'' Aside from
being a silly exercise and a colossal waste of time, this
legislation would bestow an undeserved honor on someone who has
already had plenty of public and private entities named after
him. A massive federal building, a major airport, and a nuclear
powered aircraft carrier top the list. President Reagan's
refusal to support UNCLOS has left the United States on the
sidelines while other nations develop extended continental
shelf resources, plan to divvy up the Arctic, and explore the
possibility of mining the deep seabed.
H.R. 553 passed the Committee by voice vote without
Democratic support. Republicans rejected an amendment offered
by Mr. Huffman that would have made the designation in the bill
contingent upon the Senate ratifying UNCLOS. In the absence of
UNCLOS, President Reagan would not have been able to claim the
U.S. EEZ without the use of military force. His
shortsightedness and the subsequent recalcitrance of
Republicans in the Senate have left America without a seat at
the table as important decisions about maritime security,
marine resources, and ocean exploration are being made. For
these reasons, we oppose H.R. 553 as reported.
Peter DeFazio.
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.