The Senate Should Sink the Law of the Sea Treaty

By Hugh Hewitt

Last week, the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate voted by a large margin to recommend ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. While some significant voices, including leadership in the United States Navy have endorsed the treaty, many others have warned against ratification, including most recently former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. The flawed treaty erects a massive new international bureaucracy with the U.S. as just one member among many charged with applying complicated new rules to sea bed mining and access to the world?s waterways.

The U.S. is the mightiest naval power in history, and an unqualified force for freedom of the seas. It ought to retain its unfettered ability to act in its interests and the interests of peace in the world. The Republican leadership in the Senate has announced its opposition to the treaty, and 35 senators should sign a letter saying as much so that the American people can be assured that this unnecessary and potentially damaging boondoggle joins Davey Jones at the bottom of the seas.