“And it will give the United States a seat at the table when the rights that are vital to our interests are debated and interpreted.”
I thought the US Navy owned the dining room the table sat in. If not, we sure wasted a whole lot of money on carriers and subs.
"seat at the table"- this means a seat on the technical committee.
"rights that are vital to our interests"- our rights to the oil on the continentnal margins that are beyond the 200 nautical mile boundry(EEZ).
"debated and interpreted"- the US has spent 20 plus years and lots of money mapping our shelf and margins. This data supports our right to submerged lands that extend beyond the 200 mile EEZ on 60% of our coast, including 600 miles north from the Alaskan coast and sizable distances on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. If the US does not have a seat on the tech committee, those submerged lands can not be claimed and will fall into the hands Russia, Cuba, Mexico, or become part of the world's commons.