Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 3.djvu/274

 100 STAT. 2082

PUBLIC LAW 99-513—OCT. 21, 1986

Public Law 99-513 99th Congress



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An Act Oct 21 1986 ' Lb. J048J

To encourage international efforts to designate the shipwreck of the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial and to provide for reasonable research, exploration, and, if appropriate, salvage activities with respect to the shipwreck.

R.M.S. Titanic

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

Maritime Memorial Act of 1986

16 USC 450rr note. 16 USC 450rr.

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16 USC 450rr-l.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the "R.M.S. Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1986". SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) the R.M.S. Titanic, the ocean liner which sank on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, should be designated as an international maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard her; (2) the recent discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic, lying more than twelve thousand feet beneath the ocean surface, demonstrates the practical applications of ocean science and engineering; (3) the R.M.S. Titanic, well preserved in the cold, oxygen-poor waters of the deep North Atlantic Ocean, is of major national and international cultural and historical significance, and merits appropriate international protection; and (4) the R.M.S. Titanic represents a special opportunity for deep ocean scientific research and exploration. (b) PURPOSE.—The Congress declares that the purposes of this Act are— (1) to encourage international efforts to designate the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial to those who lost their lives aboard her in 1912; (2) to direct the United States to enter into negotiations with other interested nations to establish an international agreement which will provide for the designation of the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial, and protect the scientific, cultural, and historical significance of the R.M.S. Titanic; (3) to encourage, in those negotiations or in other fora, the development and implementation of international guidelines for conducting research on, exploration of, and if appropriate, salvage of the R.M.S. Titanic; and (4) to express the sense of the United States Congress that, pending such international agreement or guidelines, no person should physically alter, disturb, or salvage the R.M.S. Titanic in any research or exploratory activities which are conducted. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this Act, the term— .-;•:?. - . H -r P

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