ACTION ALERT
January 27, 2005
Now that the elections are over, the politicians and special interests in
Washington will feel free to do what they want -- ignore public opinion --
unless we convince them otherwise.
Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
wants the U.S. Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) as soon as
possible. Lobbyists representing multi-national corporations are busy
convincing U.S. senators to vote in favor of LOST, and well-funded think tanks
are holding briefings to marshal support for ratification.
Let's remember that over 20 years ago President Reagan opposed LOST. So what
has changed since then? The treaty is the same. What has changed are the
politicians who are now in power, and we must convince them to reject LOST.
Frank Gaffney writes, "It [LOST] was drafted more than 20 years ago at the
behest of Soviet Bloc and 'nonaligned' nations as the centerpiece of their
so-called 'New International Economic Order,' a scheme to transfer wealth from
the industralized to the developing world.
"Ronald Reagan objected to LOST's creation of a supranational agency to govern
the world's oceans at the expense of U.S. sovereignty...."
Last year, supporters of LOST tried to quietly get the treaty ratified. They
were confident they could. But word got out and Americans throughout the
country said "NO!" This sudden outburst of opposition caught the pro-LOST folks
by surprise. They decided then, in that election year, to hold back and try
again early this year.
And that is exactly what they are doing now...working to get LOST ratified once
and for all.
We expect the Senate to vote on ratification of LOST within the next 60 days,
maybe sooner. We must, once again, rally opposition and do so quickly.
Urge your two U.S. senators to vote against ratification of LOST. In addition,
please spread the word. We will need all the help we can get this time around.
Send Your Message
http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/alert/?alertid=6868141&type=CO
Background on LOST>
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/lost.htm
Thank you for your help!
Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org
Here's what Gaffney has to say:
Incredibly, even as President Bush was preparing his call for an American foreign policy that would resist tyrants - not rely on organizations they and their friends effectively control - his Administration was being committed to the ratification "as soon as possible" of a treaty that would give unprecedented power to just such an organization.
The treaty in question is the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (better known as the Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST). It was drafted over twenty years ago at the behest of Soviet bloc and "non-aligned" nations to serve as the centerpiece of their so-called "New International Economic Order," a scheme to transfer wealth from the industrialized world to the developing one.
Ronald Reagan objected to LOST's creation of a supranational agency to govern the world’s oceans at the expense of U.S. sovereignty and America's capacity to utilize and assure freedom of the seas. When American concerns were ignored or simply voted down, he refused to sign the accord.
The treaty has not improved with age, despite claims by its supporters that Mr. Reagan's objections have subsequently been addressed. For example, it still allows an international organization for the first time to collect revenues from American taxpayers as the price for permission to exploit the world’s seabeds.
LOST would also still infringe in significant ways on the movement and activities of U.S. military and intelligence operations at sea. It would still oblige the U.S. to transfer sensitive data and technology to potentially hostile nations. And some LOST member states, including Communist China, insist that the treaty prohibits President Bush’s Proliferation Security Initiative - a vital "coalition of the willing" effort to counter the sea-borne spread of weapons of mass destruction to terrorists and their state-sponsors.
Yet, despite these and numerous other problems, Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice last week responded to pressure from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (Republican of Indiana) by saying, "the convention as it now stands serves our national security interests, serves our economic interests...and we very much want to see it go into force."
As a result of that endorsement, Sen. Lugar is expected shortly to try to get his committee to recommend Senate "advice and consent" to the Law of the Sea Treaty. LOST’s ratification would not only make the United States subject to a seriously defective accord and its hostile-majority-ruled institutions. It would also give unwarranted new legitimacy, precedents and power to the bloated, scandal-ridden and oppressor-dominated United Nations and international organizations it has spawned.
Senators who subscribe to President Bush's vision of an America made more secure by "the expansion of freedom in all the world" must prevent this expansion from being diminished, if not LOST, at sea.
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., is President of the Center for Security Policy
