IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 566
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President
and the Senate should take the necessary actions to prevent the sale
or diversion of Great Lakes water to foreign countries, businesses, cor-
porations, and individuals until procedures are established to guarantee
that any such sale is fully negotiated between and approved by the
governments concerned.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 1, 1998
Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr.
JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. OBEY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Ms. KILPATRICK,
Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. WALSH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mrs.
THURMAN, Mr. KIND, Mr. LUTHER, Mr. SABO, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr.
SOUDER, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. MCHUGH, Ms. STABENOW, and
Mr. BROWN of Ohio) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the President and the Senate should take the necessary
actions to prevent the sale or diversion of Great Lakes
water to foreign countries, businesses, corporations, and
individuals until procedures are established to guarantee
that any such sale is fully negotiated between and ap-
proved by the governments concerned.
Whereas the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are
precious public natural resources, shared and held in
•HRES 566 IH
trust by the Great Lakes States and the Canadian Prov-
inces;
Whereas the Great Lakes need to be carefully managed and
protected in order to meet current and future water
needs within the Great Lakes Basin and the Canadian
Provinces;
Whereas any new diversions of Great Lakes waters for use
outside of the Great Lakes Basin will have significant ad-
verse effects on the environment, economy, and welfare of
the Great Lakes region;
Whereas the Province of Ontario, Canada, has authorized an
Ontario company to divert water from the Great Lakes
for sale to Asia;
Whereas 4 of the Great Lakes contain international waters,
and are defined as ‘‘boundary waters’’ in the Boundary
Waters Treaty of 1909 between the United States and
Canada, and therefore any new diversion of Great Lakes
water would affect the relations between the Government
of the United States and the Government of Canada;
Whereas as trustees of the Great Lakes Basin’s natural re-
sources, the Great Lakes States and Provinces have a
shared duty to protect, conserve, and manage the renew-
able but finite waters of the Great Lakes Basin for the
use, benefit, and enjoyment of all their citizens, and fu-
ture generations; and
Whereas the most effective means of protecting, conserving,
and managing the water resources of the Great Lakes is
through the joint pursuit of unified and cooperative prin-
ciples, policies, and programs mutually agreed upon, en-
acted, and adhered to by each and every Great Lakes
State and Province: Now, therefore, be it
•HRES 566 IH
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the President and the Senate should act
to prevent the sale or diversion of Great Lakes water to
foreign countries, businesses, corporations, and individuals
until procedures are established to guarantee that any
such sale or diversion is fully negotiated and approved by
representatives of the United States Government and the
Government of Canada, in consultation with any Great
Lakes State or Province that could be impacted by such
a sale or diversion.
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