Senate Refuses Debate on Controversial Treaty

By: Ken Timmerman

The Bush administration is headed for another collision with its conservative base that bears all the hallmarks of the immigration debacle, where legislation that would have granted amnesty to illegal aliens bitterly divided the Republican party and ultimately went down in flames this past June.



This time the subject is a controversial international treaty that few Americans have ever heard of until now.



Officially known as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, opponents are referring to it more simply as the Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST.



What’s got them most riled up is the fact that neither the Bush White House, nor the Treaty’s supporters in the United States Senate, appear willing to have a forthright, honest, and full debate.



“They’re trying to ram this thing through in the dead of night,” said former Reagan administration Pentagon official Frank Gaffney, who now heads the conservative Center for Security Policy.

[Incidentally, Reagan opposed the Law of the Sea Treaty. - Heavyhanded]

On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relationship Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, will hold its first hearing on the controversial Treaty. A bevy of senior Bush administration officials will all testify in favor of the Treaty. But not a single voice in opposition will be heard.

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