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Sovereignty-sapping U.N.
accord gets new lifeRice says Bush 'would like to see' Law
of the Sea Treaty passed in SenateJanuary 25, 2005
By Ron Strom
The Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST, a U.N. agreement decried by U.S. sovereignty advocates who were able to prevent consideration by the United States Senate last year, appears to have new life after comments made by Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice at her confirmation hearings.
The international treaty, which gives a U.N. agency called the Seabed Authority control of over 70 percent of the earth's surface and natural resources, was thought to be a slam-dunk for approval in the Senate last year, but opponents pressured members of the body, including Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and no vote was held.
Bush administration officials have pushed for the treaty's passage, as has Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. Lugar held hearings on the legislation in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year, but failed to allow opponents of the treaty to testify.
According to an e-mail alert from the American Conservative Union, Lugar then "exerted pressure on Majority Leader Bill Frist to bring the matter to the full Senate – without debate and without a recorded vote."
That's when opponents began a successful campaign to prevent the full Senate from voting on the treaty.
Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned Rice about the agreement at last week's confirmation hearings.
Rice responded that the president "certainly would like to see it pass as soon as possible," saying LOST "serves our national security interests, serves our economic interests. We very much want to see it go into force."
A Lugar spokesman called Rice's comments "a breakthrough" and was confident the treaty would go to the floor of the Senate "sooner rather than later." The spokesman also said the administration didn't push the treaty harder last year so as not to "rile the activists."
Said Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation: "Conservatives who want to stop this treaty had better be prepared to be even more aggressive this time. Powerful interest groups, notably the oil industry, want to have this treaty ratified despite its fine print that would place their fate in the hands of a governing body called the International Seabed Authority and ultimately the United Nations."
Besides giving the U.N. power over seven-tenths of the earth's surface, the treaty would have authority to tax by requiring a permit to engage in any activity affecting the seabed, such as oil drilling or mining. The permit would cost $250,000. The Seabed Authority could also require royalty payments for minerals extracted.
Said WorldNetDaily exclusive columnist Henry Lamb, who has written extensively on the treaty: "Even more important, the permit process can require detailed information about the technology to be used, which can then be shared with member nations without regard for intellectual-property rights or security concerns."
Commented Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy: "This accord would constitute the most egregious transfer of American sovereignty, wealth and power to the U.N. since the founding of that 'world body.' In fact, never before in the history of the world has any nation voluntarily engaged in such a sweeping transfer to anyone."
The first "Battle over the LOST" was in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan flatly rejected the treaty because it undercut American sovereignty. LOST II was in the mid-1990s. In 1994, then-U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright signed a supposedly amended version of the treaty and President Clinton sent it to the Senate for the constitutionally mandated advise and consent. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who headed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was able to keep the treaty in a state of suspension.
A spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., stated last year that any claim the treaty surrenders national sovereignty is "complete and utter nonsense."
ACU explains big oil companies are in favor of the treaty because it would codify U.S. rights to explore and mine the ocean up to 200 miles from the American coast and would let the United States stake claims to seabeds outside that limit.
However, the group points out, "LOST will give the United Nations sole power to levy taxes and impose production quotas on mining and oil production. The United Nations will be able to tell companies how much they are allowed to mine – the very next gasoline shortage can and may be caused by a group of rogue Third World nations literally cutting off our oil supply."
Related story:
Grass roots force hearing on U.N. treaty
Related columns:
Sovereignty-sapping treaty getting scrutiny
Global Nightmare: Saving the LOST
Related offers:
The Beast on the East River: The UN Threat to America's Sovereignty and Security
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