Message to the Senate Transmitting the International Convention on Salvage, 1989
September 11, 1991To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, the International Convention on Salvage, 1989, done at London April 28, 1989, and signed by the United States on March 29, 1990, subject to ratification. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to the Convention.
This Convention is designed to promote sound environmental practices by commercial salvors and to strengthen the maritime transportation industries by ensuring that salvors receive adequate compensation. This Convention also incorporates the essential provisions of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law with Respect to Assistance and Salvage at Sea, done at Brussels September 23, 1910 (27 Stat. 1658, TS 576, 1 Bevans 780), which it will replace for States Party to both Conventions to the extent their provisions are incompatible. The 1910 Convention reflects the traditional international admiralty principles that a salvor may be remunerated for salvage services only if successful, and the salvage reward is limited to the value of the property salved.
The 1989 Salvage Convention offers increased protection for the marine environment by requiring both the vessel owner and the salvor to use due care to protect the marine environment and permits the salvor to be rewarded for preventing or minimizing damage to the environment during salvage operations.
The United States played an active role in the development and negotiation of this Convention. The affected public sectors have been fully consulted. All recommend expeditious ratification of the Convention.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the 1989 Salvage Convention, and give its advice and consent to ratification.
George Bush
The White House,
September 11, 1991.
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Annual Report of the Railroad Retirement Board
September 11, 1991To the Congress of the United States:
I hereby submit to the Congress the Annual Report of the Railroad Retirement Board for Fiscal Year 1990, pursuant to the provisions of section 7(b)(6) of the Railroad Retirement Act, and section 12(l) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) serves nearly 900,000 railroad retirees and their families and almost 280,000 railroad employees who rely on the system for retirement, unemployment, disability, and sickness insurance benefits. Beneficiaries depend on the financial integrity of the pension funds for payment of their benefits.
This report includes the RRB's 18th actuarial valuation of the railroad retirement program's assets and liabilities. The valuation concluded that, barring a sudden, unanticipated, large drop in railroad employment, the railroad retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems for at least 20 years. The long-term stability of the system, however, remains questionable, and under the current financing structure, actual levels of rail employment in the coming years will determine whether additional corrective action is necessary.
The Railroad Retirement Reform Commission, created by the Congress to give the rail sector a chance to address the financial instability of the rail pension, issued its report in September of 1990. I strongly oppose the report's recommendation to renew the diversion of Federal income taxes to the rail pension. Since 1983, approximately $1.5 billion in such taxpayers subsidies have been given to the rail pension fund. Railroad pension benefits should be financed solely by rail sector resources, and I will continue to oppose any additional general revenue funding measures for the railroad retirement system.
Other Commission recommendations such as privatization hold promise as equitable reforms to the system; rules protecting private pensions (ERISA) should also apply to the railroad's private pension system.
The Commission adopted a proposal contained in the Administration's FY 1992 budget to extend benefits to all rail sector beneficiaries, such as widows and divorced spouses. These individuals would have been eligible for benefits under Social Security but are denied equivalent benefits by the rail system. Conforming rail social security and Social Security would make the rail pension benefit structure more equitable. This Administration has a strong belief in just governance and supports such a measure that would conform benefit eligibility under the Railroad Retirement Act with the Social Security Act.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was concerned with the overall management of RRB programs and engaged in a thorough management review of its operations. As a result of this review, an agreement was reached between OMB and RRB that included a 5-year management plan outlining the specific improvements and resources necessary to achieve much needed reforms at the RRB. Both OMB and RRB are committed to many substantial reforms, and the RRB leadership is demonstrating a new and progressive approach to addressing inefficiencies, debt collection, and automation modernization. I commend the Board for its efforts and urge the Congress to support appropriations for these measures to enhance RRB efficiency, eliminate material weaknesses, and to protect the integrity of the trust funds. The RRB Inspector General's Office also deserves praise for its diligence in monitoring and enforcing industry compliance with the pension contribution statutes. Such efforts help to preserve the integrity of the rail pension funds, on which rail employees and retirees depend.
George Bush
The White House,
September 11, 1991.
September 11, 1990 -- President Bush calls the Gulf War an opportunity for the New World Order. In an address to Congress entitled Toward a New World Order, Mr. Bush says: "The crisis in the Persian Gulf offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times...a new world order can emerge in which the nations of the world, east and west, north and south, can prosper and live in harmony....Today the new world is struggling to be born."