Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Kigali Amendment and other treaties

106 Dirksen
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 18:30:00 GMT

Hearing page

The Kigali Amendment aims for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by cutting their production and consumption. Given their zero impact on the depletion of the ozone layer, HFCs are currently used as replacements of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs); however they are powerful greenhouse gases.

Treaties
  • Amendments to the Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America (Treaty Doc. 115-3)
  • Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Croatia comprising the instrument as contemplated by Article 3(2) of the Agreement on Extradition between the United States of America and the European Union, signed June 25, 2003, as to the Application of the Treaty on Extradition signed on October 25, 1901 (the “U.S.-Croatia Extradition Agreement”), and the Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Republic of Croatia comprising the Instrument as contemplated by Article 3(3) of the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance between the United States of America and the European Union signed at Washington on June 25, 2003 (the “U.S.-Croatia Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement”), both signed at Washington on December 10, 2019 (Treaty Doc. 116-2)
  • Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the “Montreal Protocol”), adopted at Kigali on October 15, 2016, by the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (the “Kigali Amendment”) (Treaty Doc. 117-1)

Witnesses

PANEL I

  • Major General Vaughn Ary (ret.), Director of the Office of International Affairs, Department of Justice
  • Richard Visek, Acting Legal Adviser, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State
  • Dr. John Thompson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
PANEL II
  • Jim Sousa, President of the American Tunaboat Association, Director at GS Fisheries
  • Stephen Yurek, President and CEO, Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)