1.   But there has been pressure from the Department of the Environment to ratify the convention.

2.   This urged states to sign and ratify the convention and to make domestic legislation and administrative procedures compatible with it.

3.   The Russian parliament has ratified the convention on protecting the Black Sea from pollution.

4.   Better yet, if the Senate ratifies the convention, they could attend with the added influence of a belated signatory.

5.   Both sides and the American people would come out winners if the Senate voted to ratify the convention and the State Department streamlined its operations.

6.   Britain has signed and ratified international conventions against torture and genocide.

7.   But van der Graff, a key player in the move to get the convention ratified, admits the process is a slow one.

8.   Even so, the United States and Somalia, which has no government, are the only two countries that have not ratified the convention.

9.   Foreign assistance is likely to come more easily now that the Russian parliament has ratified the convention.