Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should assume a strong leadership role in implementing the decisions made at the Earth Summit by developing a national strategy to…

Expresses the sense of the Congress that effective follow-up to achieve the goals of the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) will depend on the following actions by the President and the U.S. Government: (1) adoption of a national strategy for environmentally sustainable development, based on an extensive process of nationwide consultations with all interested organizations and individuals; (2) the Government encouraging and facilitating means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of action, including the establishment of local, county, State, business, and other boards and commissions for achieving sustainable development; (3) the President establishing an effective mechanism to plan, initiate, and coordinate U.S. policy for implementing Agenda 21; and (4) policies being formulated for foreign policy and assistance to help developing countries and for domestic actions to assure appropriate action to implement Agenda 21.

Supports: (1) pursuing the research and policy initiatives urged in Agenda 21, including research on and creation of a policy framework for sustainable consumption and production patterns, identification of a strategy to eliminate or reduce subsidies for unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and improving pricing policies; (2) the Congress adopting a plan to reallocate savings from reduced defense spending to achieve its goals of global environmental protection and sustainable development over the next decade; and (3) the effective establishment of a high-level United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development.

Urges the United States to encourage the Commission to call for periodic international meetings to continue the process toward developing and advancing international agreement to facilitate sustainable economic development.

Calls on the President to: (1) urge and actively participate in multilateral efforts aimed at creating a more favorable international economic climate for developing countries to practice sustainable development; (2) affirm strong U.S. commitment to the Commission by appointing a high-level representative to the Commission and by encouraging the UN Secretary General to appoint an Under Secretary General for Sustainable Development; (3) submit and encourage all UN members to submit a national report to the Commission on activities undertaken to implement Agenda 21 both domestically and internationally, on progress made toward fulfilling other commitments undertaken at UNCED, and on other relevant environmental and developmental issues; and (4) submit an annual report and make information available to the Congress on the steps taken by the United States to implement Agenda 21 and the recommendations made by this Act.