; Whereas the CCZ is a 48,000,000,000,000 square feet area in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico; Whereas, because the CCZ is located in the international seabed area, the ISA, a United Nations organization, manages and regulates these ocean floor minerals; Whereas the ISA is an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); Whereas the ISA is an organization through which only signatories to UNCLOS organize and control all mineral resources-related activities in the international seabed area, which covers approximately 54 percent of the total area of the world’s oceans; Whereas the European Union and 168 nations are members of the ISA, including China and Russia; Whereas the United States is not a member of the ISA but could obtain access to minerals located in the CCZ through partnerships with ISA contractors based in allied countries that are aligned with United States interests; Whereas the ISA is currently deliberating on rules to govern the collection of polymetallic nodules, and only ISA members have a vote on these regulations; Whereas the ISA has issued 19 current exploration contracts for polymetallic nodules, including 3 sponsored by the PRC for Chinese entities, 2 of which sit in the CCZ, the area of most economic interest; Whereas the United States must not let this imminent economic opportunity be ceded to China because of our unwillingness to act; and Whereas the United States needs the innovation and ingenuity that made this country great more than ever: Now, therefore, be it