Possibly the Final Push for the Law of the Sea Treaty

Townhall.com ^ | October 30, 2007 | Paul Weyrich

[Baladas]

The Law of the Sea Treaty (“LOST” to opponents, “UNCLOS” to supporters) is up for a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this Thursday, November 1. The State Department pushed this treaty in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was President. He rejected it, primarily because of Part XI of the Treaty, which regulates minerals on the seabed outside any sovereign state's territorial waters. It establishes an International Seabed Authority (ISA) to authorize seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalty. President Reagan strongly objected to the provisions of Part XI, saying that they were unfavorable to America's economy and security. The provisions of the Treaty were not free-market friendly and were designed to favor the economic systems of the Communist states.

During the Presidency of George H. W. Bush the Treaty was not considered. President William J. (Bill) Clinton supported the Treaty but never forcefully enough to secure ratification in the Senate. The fact that he had a Republican Senate for six of the eight years of his Presidency was a consideration.

Then came the Presidency of George W. Bush. During his first term he did not push the Treaty. His second term has been different, however. Beginning in 2005 Bush made a determined effort to ratify LOST. Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader William H. (Bill) Frist, M.D. (R-TN) did not permit the Treaty to reach the Senate floor.

Will LOST be defeated? The odds are slightly against its defeat. Currently, four leading Republican Senators—Minority Leader A. Mitchell (Mitch) McConnell, Jr. (R-KY), Trent Lott (R-MS), Jon L. Kyl (R-AZ) and Inhofe—oppose LOST. It is too early to give up. These Senators are tireless workers who never give up, so why should we?

[Baladas]

I'm actually a little more optomistic than this that this godawful treaty will be defeated for now, but better safe than sorry, this vote is only a day away.

[bmwcyle]

NWO or freedom.

[saganite]

I saw today that McCain is flipping on the treaty and will vote no. He’s a bell weather and hopefully indicates the treaty is losing support.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think their phones are warming up. Not as hot as the immigration bill, but still pretty hot.

[AuntB]

Thanks for the reminder! Please call your senators!

www.senate.gov

[TLI]

The provisions of the Treaty were not free-market friendly and were designed to favor the economic systems of the Communist states.

President William J. (Bill) Clinton supported the Treaty Beginning in 2005 Bush made a determined effort to ratify LOST.

The Democrats control the Senate and have held several hearings on LOST in the Foreign Relations Committee.

2005 is when George seemed to really start going downhill. Clearly LOST is a commie wet dream. I wonder what happened.

[calcowgirl]

Big BUMP!

[malia]

bump

[4integrity]

BUMP. L.O.S.T. was discussed by Brit Hume’s panel on tonight’s show. I was optimistic when Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes felt the Treaty will not be ratified.

I called several Senators today and will call again in the am.

[SierraWasp]

RIP LOST!!! (RIH would be better!!!)

[Clintonfatigued]

The claims that supporters of this treaty make don’t hold water. There is no justification for supporting it.

[SandRat]

The Treaty Needs to be the H.M.S. Titanic!

[Clintonfatigued]

The vote is tommorrow, if I’m not mistaken.

[P-40]

Listen to the testimony from this site if you can. At least listen to Sen. Ritter from about 1:59 to 2:07. He has more questions later also. The Treaty is not all that it appears to be.

http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2007/hrg071004a.html

[Baladas]

http://www.aim.org/aim_report/5909_0_4_0_C/

Yep.

[P-40]

It will be interesting to see what happens to the treaty now. Word is starting to get out that there are some...problems with it.

[Mr. Mojo]

The State Department pushed this treaty in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was President. He rejected it.

Thank God for the Gipper. But now both Foggy Bottom and the Democrat-controlled congress have an ally in the WH to get this thing passed. Dangeous times.

[P-40]

Listen to the video I posted above. At about 2:07 it really gets me irritated. The worst of the testimony came at the end of the hearing...as usual.