The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ... is perhaps one of the most significant but less recognized 20th century accomplishments in the arena of international law.... Its scope is vast: it covers all ocean space, with all its uses, including navigation and overflight; all uses of all its resources, living and non-living, on the high seas, on the ocean floor and beneath, on the continental shelf and in the territorial seas; the protection of the marine environment; and basic law and order.... The Convention is widely recognised by the international community as the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out. ("25th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," Oct. 17, 2007; emphasis added.)

If you wonder why some of us have been so vigorously opposing ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) since it was negotiated at a series of UN conferences between 1973 and 1982, read the above quote very slowly and with comprehension. This statement from the 25th anniversary celebration of the completion of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also known more simply as the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), says LOST's "scope is vast: it covers all ocean space, with all its uses, including navigation and overflight; all uses of its resources, living and non-living, on the high seas, on the ocean floor and beneath, on the continental shelf and in the territorial seas.... The Convention is widely recognized by the international community as the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out."

If you read the quote carefully, you'll see that the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea which administers LOST would have authority over everything, everything, over, on, and under the oceans and seas of the world. Ratification of LOST would be a very large step toward world government. And, remember under the UN division that administers LOST, our nation wouldn't have veto power like we do in the UN Security Council. We'd have just one vote among 150 or more votes. Just as the League of Nations ultimately fell apart without the United States, let's stay out of the UN's LOST regime, thus denying its legitimacy.

And, just in case someone has told you that the agency set up to administer LOST is not really part of the UN, here's its logo (see graphic immediately below). Can you detect the UN's logo anywhere? Here's its URL: http://un.org/Depts/los/index.htm. Do you see any portion of the UN's official URL, http://un.org, anywhere?

If you're still not convinced that the implementation and administration of the LOST Convention is part of the United Nations, consider this statement from the Sixty-second United Nations General Assembly Plenary meeting, December 21, 2007:

The Assembly had before it a 22-part resolution on oceans and the Convention on the Law of the Sea ... by which it would call on States to harmonize, as a matter of priority, national legislation with the provisions of the Convention and, where applicable, relevant agreements and provisions.... The Assembly then adopted the resolution by a recorded vote of 146 in favour to 2 against....

As this UN General Assembly document from December 21, 2007, shows, the General Assembly adopted a resolution by a vote of 146 to 2 calling on all member-nations of the UN to harmonize, as a matter of priority, the legislation of their nations with the LOST Convention.

In 1956 the United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea. The second UN Conference on the Law Sea was held in 1960, but did not produce any agreements. However, the third such conference, which lasted from 1973 to 1982, did produce what we now know as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), or more simply, the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).

In 1982 President Reagan refused to sign the treaty due to disagreements with provisions in Part XI of LOST pertaining to the establishment of an International Seabed Authority (ISA) to authorize seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalties. However, by 1994 UNCLOS went into force when the 60th nation ratified the treaty. To date at least 157 nations and the European Union have joined in the Convention. Nonetheless, the United States Senate has still not ratified LOST, even though both presidents Clinton and Bush strongly advocated ratification.

However, this year it is virtually certain that a vote on ratification of LOST will be held in the Senate. President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, John Kerry, all agree that LOST should be ratified. Not only that, but ratification of LOST is being elevated into a kind of centerpiece for the new Obama administration's foreign policy initiative of closer cooperation with other nations. This is very clear from Hillary Clinton's testimony at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 13. When Senator Murkowski asked Clinton, "Will ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty be a priority for you?" Clinton answered: "Yes, it will be, and it will be because it is long overdue, Senator."

Here's a video of the most pertinant portion of her testimony:

At the same confirmation hearing for Clinton, Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also went on record as strongly in favor of ratification of LOST. Kerry stated:

Let me just say to you and to others interested that we are already -- I have talked to Senator Lugar about this, and I've talked to Senator Clinton about it. We will be -- we are now laying the groundwork for and expect to try to take up the Law of the Sea Treaty. So that will be one of the priorities of -- of the committee, and the key here is just timing, how we proceed. ("Senate Confirmation Hearing: Hillary Clinton," nytimes.com, January 13, 2009)

Given the powerful forces that will be arrayed in favor of ratification, it will take an extraordinarily powerful outcry from the grassroots to defeat LOST in the Senate. While it does take two-thirds (67) of the Senators to ratify a treaty, it will be a very tough fight to produce the 34 senators we'll need to stop LOST.

It's hard to judge just when a ratification vote might be held. There will be one or more hearings by one or more Senate committees first. You can count on these hearings leading to a recommendation for a ratification vote by the full Senate. Then, we'll have the actual ratification vote.

We have to begin building grassroots opposition to ratification of LOST now. If you're interested in helping to do this, I recommend you network with like-minded Americans by joining the JBS Community and also joining a member group of the JBS.org Freedom Campaign Meetup Alliance. To keep up-to-date on the Stop LOST campaign, visit the official JBS.org Freedom Campaign site.

Take action now by clicking here to contact your senators in opposition to ratification of LOST.

It's up to ordinary grassroots Americans like you and me to create enough understanding soon enough to defeat LOST, which would put sand in the gears of the UN world government movement. Please join with us!

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