LOST Directed to Full Senate Vote!

Immediate Education of Senate Needed
to Protect U.S. Sovereignty!

By Tom DeWeese

Tom DeWeese Last Friday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 to surrender U.S. sovereignty to Third World countries and the corrupt United Nations! They did this by sending the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, better known as the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), to the full Senate for ratification. LOST is now on a fast track for approval, so we must act faster to torpedo it.

The Law of the Sea Treaty was largely written by World Federalists devoted to world government, under the auspices of peace advocacy. They were moved by the horrors of World War II to embrace world government; but some of the world federalist groups were infiltrated or manipulated by communists sympathetic to the Soviet Union.

Back when it proudly called itself the World Federalist Association (now the Citizens for Global Solutions), the group said that one of its main priorities was to "provide the U.N. with sustained and independent sources of funding." The WFA book, A New World Order: Can It Bring Security to the World's People? declared, "One of the most popular concepts identified as an independent source of revenue is the ocean and seabeds."

All protestations to the contrary aside, the Law of the Sea Treaty is a step toward world government and global taxation. And I can assure you, hands down, bar none, the best guarantor of world peace is the U.S. Navy, free to sail the oceans as it always has! And the best protector against taxation without representation is the U.S. Constitution and an enraged American populace determined to stand upon it!

Thanks to you, and people like you, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's initial plan to ratify LOST under cover of darkness was scuttled; indeed, your pressure helped increase opposition to the treaty within the Foreign Relations Committee itself by 300 percent! This reaffirms our belief that as Senators learn the truth about LOST they will oppose ratification. Your voice is being heard; the tricky part will be to educate 34 Senators before Senator Reid calls for the vote, expected anytime this week.

Support for LOST seems to come from all Democrats, with the possible exception of Senator Webb of Virginia (who was Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan), and most Republicans since President Bush has told the Senate he wants this treaty approved.

Senators Jim DeMint, David Vitter, Mitch McConnell, Trent Lott, Jon Kyl, Kaye Bailey Hutchison, John Ensign, and Daniel Inhofe all oppose LOST. They've sent a message to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that he needs to hold his horses on the Law of the Sea Treaty. That means we're having an effect. But they are only 8 of the 34 needed to sink this very dangerous treaty.

Most Senators do not know much about LOST. They haven't read it, and they're being told the treaty was "fixed" by the Clinton Administration "Agreement" in 1994, so that it no longer contains provisions that threaten our national security, sovereignty and economic interests. A comprehensive review of the current contents of LOST has not been allowed, though; if it were these statements would be found to be outright lies! The 1994 Agreement did not, and could not, amend LOST, as the treaty (adopted in 1994) does not allow amendment for at least ten years from adoption. Neither does the 1994 Agreement require any of the LOST tribunals to abide by the Agreement.

Many believe President Reagan, who torpedoed LOST in 1984, was only concerned with restrictions the ISA would place on seabed mining. Again, this is simply not the case, and is apparently a serious effort to deceive well-meaning, but criminally ignorant lawmakers. I will list President Reagan's profound objections to LOST under "Action to Take." These points must be conveyed to the Senate!

There is little understanding on Capitol Hill as to just how powerful and all encompassing the Law of the Sea Treaty can be. During hearings by the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2004, Chairman James Inhofe asked former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, "What about the air over the sea?" Does LOST have jurisdiction there? Her answer: not only the air but also the space could become subject to U.N. authority under this treaty.

LOST is an incredibly dangerous treaty that must be stopped. Our best tactics are twofold: 1) pressure Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to put LOST before all eight Senate committees that have oversight responsibilities; and 2) educate your Senators. The more Senators that actually read LOST the better our chances of relegating it to history's ashcan of failed attacks.

ACTION TO TAKE

Contact Senator McConnell, immediately! His office phone number is 202-224-2541 and his fax is 202-224-2499. Tell Senator McConnell it would be incomprehensible and irresponsible were each of these eight Senate committees to fail to conduct their own hearings into LOST's implications.

Contact both your Senators! You can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. The switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request. Please take the time during your contact to educate on the dangers of LOST. Tell each Senator:

The 1994 Agreement did not conform to the procedures specified by the Treaty for adopting amendments; as a result, the terms of the Treaty have not been formally altered.

25 of the 180 countries that have already signed on to LOST have not signed the Agreement, apparently believing the Agreement does nothing to aid dispute resolution.

President Reagan found provisions of LOST so objectionable that they could not be fixed by relatively minor reworking of its provisions related to the International Seabed Authority.

President Reagan objected to the lack of U.S. influence. The U.S. would have one vote out of 180, and no veto power.

LOST creates various supranational bodies to develop and enforce its provisions, complete with an executive branch, legislature, and judiciary, known as the International Seabed Authority (ISA), intended to trump the U.S. Constitution.

The 1994 Agreement allows the ISA to amend LOST without American consent, effectively overruling our Senate's vote at any time.

LOST requires that states "promote the acquisition, evaluation, and dissemination of marine technological knowledge and facilitate access to such information and data." Parties to a dispute are required to provide the tribunal with "all relevant documents, facilities, and information." This amounts to an invitation for competitors to bring the United States and/or its companies or adversaries before a LOST tribunal to obtain sensitive data and know-how.

LOST requires that half of each area surveyed by an American mining company must be turned over to the ISA for exploration by the "Enterprise" - with the ISA choosing which half. President Reagan correctly viewed this arrangement would force American companies to assist competitors while paying for the privilege!

LOST mandates taxes and fees that companies and countries must pay to the ISA, notably an application fee for required permits, an annual fixed-fee, and royalties payments. The ISA would then redistribute such revenues to other countries "equitably" with special emphasis on developing nations. In other words, the kind of socialist, global wealth-redistribution scheme that Mr. Reagan viscerally opposed.

The ISA maintains the right to adopt "appropriate rules, regulations, and procedures for ... the prevention, reduction and control of pollution and other hazards to the marine environment," which would undoubtedly mean imposing the Kyoto Protocol on the American economy at the earliest opportunity.

Please remember, President Reagan was so concerned LOST endangered U.S. security and economic interests vital to our national well-being and the principles that form the foundation our Republic that he fired the U.S. team that negotiated it.

See biography for Tom DeWeese

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