HR 4699

0likes☆Favorite🔕SubscribeShare

Introduced ↻ Update bill dataRe-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click. Contact your reps Urge the sponsor

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 30, 1994

Mr. Evans (for himself, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Bonior, Mrs. Unsoeld, Mr. Stark, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Filner, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Furse, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Olver, Mr. Hochbrueckner, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Engel, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Edwards of California, Mr. Fingerhut, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Beilenson, Mr. Kreidler, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Shays, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Shepherd, Mr. Hamburg, Mr. Foglietta, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Miller of California, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Vento, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Fish, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Owens, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Berman, Mr. Andrews of Maine, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Kopetski, and Mrs. Schroeder) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services

A BILL

To state the sense of Congress on the production, possession, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines, to place a moratorium on United States production of antipersonnel landmines, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) There are approximately 100,000,000 unexploded antipersonnel landmines strewn in more than 60 countries around the world, and tens of millions of antipersonnel landmines are stored in stockpiles. The Department of State reports that “landmines may be the most toxic and widespread pollution facing mankind”.

(2) Like chemical and biological weapons, landmines kill and maim indiscriminately.

(3) After the United States adopted a unilateral moratorium on the export of antipersonnel landmines, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously called for an international moratorium on such exports, and the Governments of France, Germany, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and South Africa have each announced an export moratorium. The Government of Cambodia has stated that it will no longer use or purchase antipersonnel landmines.

(4) Despite such actions, far more antipersonnel landmines are being strewn than are being cleared. Each month, at least 1,200 persons, mostly innocent civilians, are killed or injured by landmines. In some countries, more than one third of all casualties of landmines are women and children.

(5) With hundreds of types of antipersonnel landmines being produced in at least 50 countries, only international cooperation on limits on the production, possession, transfer, and use of anti-personnel landmines will stop the slaughter of innocent lives.

(6) A United Nations conference to review the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention, including Protocol II to the Convention (commonly referred to as the “Landmine Protocol”), is planned for 1995. Meetings of governmental experts to prepare for the conference have begun. This is a critical time for United States leadership to help solve the landmine crisis.

SEC. 2. POLICY.

It is the sense of Congress that the President should—

(1) actively seek an international agreement prohibiting the production, possession, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines; and

(2) as interim measures to be pursued during the seeking of such prohibitions, actively seek international agreements, modifications of the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention, or other agreements or arrangements to limit further the production, possession, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines.

SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON THE PRODUCTION AND PROCUREMENT OF ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES.

(a) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that a moratorium by the United States on the purchase and production of antipersonnel landmines would encourage other nations to adopt similar measures.

(b) Moratorium.—Effective 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the United States Government shall not purchase or produce antipersonnel landmines.

(c) Period of Moratorium.—The prohibition set forth in subsection

(b) shall continue until the end of the one-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(d) Actions by Other Nations.—(1) The Congress urges the President, during the period referred to in subsection (c), to encourage each nation which is a major producer of antipersonnel landmines to adopt a moratorium similar to the moratorium described in subsection (b).

(2) If the President determines during the period referred to in subsection (c) that nations that are major producers of antipersonnel landmines have adopted moratoria similar to the moratorium described in subsection (b), the President may extend the moratorium for such additional time as the President considers appropriate.

(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the term “major producers of antipersonnel landmines” include the following:

(A) Belgium.

(B) Bulgaria.

(C) The Peoples Republic of China.

(D) Egypt.

(E) France.

(F) Germany.

(G) Hungary.

(H) Italy.

(I) Pakistan.

(J) Russia.

(K) South Africa.

(L) The United Kingdom.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR DEMINING ACTIVITIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 1995.

There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1995 the sum of $25,000,000 for—

(1) humanitarian activities relating to the clearing and disarming of landmines and the protection of civilians from landmines (including activities relating to the furnishing of education, training, technical assistance, demining equipment and technology and activities relating to research and development on demining equipment and technology); and

(2) contributions to United Nations funds and to nongovernmental organizations to support such activities.

SEC. 5. ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF COSTS AND EFFECTS OF ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES.

(a) Analysis.—(1) Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development and the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a joint report containing a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the social, economic, and environmental costs and effects of the use of antipersonnel landmines.

(2) The analysis shall cover not less than three countries (as jointly determined by the Administrator and the Secretary) in which the presence of landmines presents significant social, economic, and environmental problems.

(3) In preparing the report, the Administrator and the Secretary shall rely on any appropriate governmental and nongovernmental materials and sources of information that are available to them.

(b) Assessment.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report setting forth the total number of members of the United States Armed Forces killed or wounded by antipersonnel landmines during each of the following periods:

(A) World War II.

(B) The Korean conflict.

(C) The Vietnam era.

(D) The Persian Gulf War.

(2) The Secretary of Defense shall submit the report under this subsection at the same time that the report required under subsection

(a) is submitted.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this Act:

(1) The term “antipersonnel landmine” means any of the following:

(A) Any munition placed under, on, or near the ground or other surface area, delivered by artillery, rocket, mortar, or similar means, or dropped from an aircraft and which is designed, constructed, adapted, or designed to be adapted to be detonated or exploded by the presence, proximity, or contact of a person.

(B) Any device or material which is designed, constructed, adapted, or designed to be adapted to kill or injure and which functions unexpectedly when a person disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object or performs an apparently safe act.

(2) The term “1980 Conventional Weapons Convention” means the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention on Production or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious or To Have Indiscriminate Effects, done at New York on April 10, 1981. <all>