Law of the Sea pushed again

The Senate is close to ratifying the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or Law of the Sea Treat (“LOST”), a decades-old international treaty to regulate the commercial use of the world’s oceans. President George W. Bush, much of Congress, the Navy, the Coast Guard, environmental groups, and oil companies support the treaty, stating that it guarantees the right to traverse certain regions that currently require permission from other governments. To date, more than 150 countries have signed on. Since 1983, it has been U.S. policy to comply voluntarily with the treaty portions relating to the traditional use of the ocean. We’re unclear on the problem this renewed push seeks to correct.

Despite this wide array of support, there are still many who believe it is a severe blow to American sovereignty. For example, the “innocent passage” provision in the treaty allows the UN bureaucracy to oversee international shipping and could thus severely hamper America’s ability to combat terrorism at sea. President Ronald Reagan refused to sign the treaty in 1982, when our Navy had nearly 600 ships to guarantee our right of passage. Now, we have but 276 ships, and that number is slated to decrease. As Cliff Kincaid, president of America’s Survival, points out, “What we need are more ships, not more lawyers and not more international tribunals.”

-- Patriot Post --