Title: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and supporting an International Geophysical Year-2 (IGY-2) in 2007-08.
Sponsors: Rep Udall, Mark [CO] and Rep Ehlers, Vernon J. [MI]
(introduced 5/21/2003)

Latest Major Action: 3/25/2004 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Text from Congressional records at http://thomas.loc.gov

Whereas the year 2007 is the 50th anniversary of the IGY of 1957-58; (Introduced in House)

HCON 189 IH

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and supporting an International Geophysical Year-2 (IGY-2) in 2007-08.

Whereas the year 2007 is the 50th anniversary of the IGY of 1957-58;

Whereas the IGY, conceived in and promoted by the United States, was the largest cooperative international scientific endeavor undertaken to that date, involving more than 60,000 scientists from 66 nations;

Whereas the IGY legacy includes the dedication of an entire continent to cooperative scientific study through the Antarctica Treaty and the inauguration of the global space age through the launching of Sputnik and Vanguard;

Whereas IGY cooperation continues as the model and inspiration for contemporary world science and also, in this strife-torn era, for the human species as a whole;

Whereas the IGY was conceived as a follow-on to the International Polar Year of 1932 that would reflect new and more globally comprehensive research and measurement techniques in geophysics; and whereas in like-minded spirit it would be appropriate for an IGY-2 to reflect global developments in biology, genetics, the neurosciences, and other areas of scientific research;

Whereas it also would be appropriate for an IGY-2 to recognize interdisciplinary research that incorporates the physical and social sciences and the humanities in enriching understanding of diverse life on Earth;

Whereas the 35th anniversary of the IGY was commemorated by the International Space Year, a globally implemented congressional initiative conceived by the late Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii, that was highlighted by globally coordinated environmental monitoring and research whose ongoing legacy continues to benefit humanity; and

Whereas it is entirely fitting that Congress takes the lead again, in the same spirit, in promoting global cooperation through worldwide commemoration of the IGY with activities reflecting the unity and diversity of life on Earth: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the President should--

(1) endorse the concept of a worldwide IGY-2 for the 2007-2008 timeframe;

(2) direct the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in association with the National Academy of Sciences and other relevant governmental and nongovernmental organizations, to initiate interagency and international inquiries and discussions that explore the opportunities for a worldwide IGY-2 in the 2007-2008 timeframe, emphasizing activities dedicated to global environmental research, education, and protection; and

(3) submit to Congress at the earliest practical date, but no later than March 15, 2004, a report detailing the steps taken in carrying out paragraphs (1) and (2), including descriptions of possible activities and organizational structures for an IGY-2 in 2007-2008.