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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 299

To establish a Commission on Environment and Development.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

HUGHES, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. BLACKWELL, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. STUDDS,

and Mr. ACKERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To establish a Commission on Environment and

Development.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

4 There is established a commission to be known as the

5 Commission on Environment and Development (herein6 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

7 SEC. 2. FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

9 (1) monitor the actions of the signatories to

10 documents of the United Nations Conference on En-
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1 vironment and Development that reflect compliance

2 with or violation of the goals of—

3 (A) the Articles of Agenda 21 of the Unit4 ed Nations Conference on Environment and De5 velopment,

6 (B) the Statement of Principles on the

7 Maintenance, Conservation, and Development of

8 All Forests,

9 (C) the United Nations Framework Con10 vention on Climate Change, and

11 (D) the Convention on Biological Diversity;

12 (2) monitor and encourage the development of

13 programs and activities by the United States Gov14 ernment and private organization with a view toward

15 advancing the objectives of the United Nations Con16 ference on Environment and Development; and

17 (3) review reports submitted by countries to the

18 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Develop19 ment, including those submitted by the United

20 States.

21 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In carrying out its

22 functions, the Commission shall consult with and draw

23 upon the expertise of United States and foreign non24 governmental organizations, citizens’ groups, and other

25 public and private bodies concerned with international and
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1 national environmental and sustainable development is2 sues.

3 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be com5 posed of 11 members as follows:

6 (1) Four Members of the House of Representa7 tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep8 resentatives. Two members shall be selected from

9 the majority party and two shall be selected, after

10 consultation with the minority leader of the House,

11 from the principal minority party.

12 (2) Four Members of the Senate appointed by

13 the President of the Senate. Two members shall be

14 selected from the majority party and two shall be se15 lected, after consultation with the minority leader of

16 the Senate, from the minority party.

17 (3) The Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans

18 and International Environmental and Scientific Af19 fairs.

20 (4) The Administrator of the Environmental

21 Protection Agency.

22 (5) The Chairman of the Council on Environ23 mental Quality.

24 (b) CHAIR AND COCHAIR.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be a Chair and

2 a Cochair of the Commission.

3 (2) APPOINTMENT.—(A) At the beginning of

4 each odd-numbered Congress, the Speaker of the

5 House of Representatives shall designate one of the

6 House Members as Chair of the Commission. At the

7 beginning of each even-numbered Congress, the

8 President of the Senate, on the recommendation of

9 the majority leader, shall designate one of the Sen10 ate Members as Chair of the Commission.

11 (B) At the beginning of each odd-numbered

12 Congress, the President of the Senate, on the rec13 ommendation of the majority leader, shall designate

14 one of the Senate Members as Cochair of the Com15 mission. At the beginning of each even-numbered

16 Congress, the Speaker of the House of Representa17 tives shall designate one of the House Members as

18 Cochair of the Commission.

19 SEC. 4. REPORTS TO AND BY THE COMMISSION.

20 (a) REPORTS TO THE COMMISSION.—In order to as21 sist the Commission in carrying out its duties, the Presi22 dent shall submit to the Commission semiannual reports

23 which shall include—

24 (1) a detailed survey of actions by signatories

25 of documents of the United Nations Conference on
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1 Environment and Development that reflect compli2 ance with or violation of the goals of those docu3 ments; and

4 (2) a listing and description of present or

5 planned programs and activities of the appropriate

6 agencies of the executive branch advancing the ob7 jectives of the United Nations Conference on Envi8 ronment and Development.

9 (b) REPORTS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Commis10 sion shall report to the House of Representatives and the

11 Senate on a periodic basis with respect to the matters de12 scribed in section 2(a), and shall provide information to

13 Members of the House of Representatives and Senate as

14 requested.

15 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATIVE POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

16 In carrying out this Act, the Commission may re17 quire, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testi18 mony of such witnesses and the production of such books,

19 records, correspondence, memorandums, papers, and doc20 uments as it deems necessary. Subpoenas may be issued

21 over the signature of the Chair of the Commission or such

22 other member of the Commission as the Chair may des23 ignate. The Chair of the Commission, or any member des24 ignated by the Chair, may administer oaths to any wit25 ness.
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1 SEC. 6. STAFF OF THE COMMISSION.

2 The Commission may employ individuals for its staff,

3 who shall be considered to be congressional employees (as

4 defined in section 2107 of title 5, United States Code)

5 for purposes of pay and other employment benefits, rights,

6 and privileges and for all other purposes.

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro9 priated to the Commission for each fiscal year such sums

10 as may be necessary, which are authorized to remain avail11 able until expended.

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