Republicans and the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty

The Minority Report would like to welcome Cliff Kincaid to the front page as a guest poster for a series of articles on the Law of the Sea Treaty. Cliff Kincaid serves as president of America’s Survival. Inc., (ASI), a U.N. watchdog group, and as editor of the Accuracy in Media (AIM) Report. Through ASI (www.usasurvival.org), Cliff publishes reports and holds conferences critical of the United Nations. ASI led a national educational campaign about the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty, exposing how the measure affects American sovereignty and access to resources. Cliff’s articles on this matter appeared in the Washington Times and Human Events. -Steven Foley

I was at a meeting the other day where someone noted the “Republican brand” had taken a beating because of excessive spending by the last (Republican-controlled) Congress. But the Republican brand will take more of a beating if the Bush Administration and “moderate” Senate Republicans join with liberal Democrats in passing the U.N. Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The treaty, rejected by President Reagan, is up for Senate ratification, with an important hearing scheduled for October 4. A full Senate vote could quickly follow.

Fortunately, there are conservative Republicans such as Senators David Vitter and Jim DeMint who have decided to buck the White House and expose the treaty as the costly sovereignty-sapping measure it is. They are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and directed heavy fire at the treaty in the first (September 27) hearing on the measure. They deserve our praise and support. But the question is: can we find 34 Senate Republicans to vote against the treaty and prevent its ratification? If not, then it’s nearly certain that voters will see no real difference between the two parties on the issue of preserving our national sovereignty. This could lead to a further exodus from the GOP of constitutional conservatives, guaranteeing a Hillary victory.

The website for my organization America’s Survival, Inc. has chapter and verse on how bad this treaty is. Indeed, it’s two bad treaties for the price of one, since it provides a back-door for the implementation of the unratified global warming treaty, with devastating results for our economy. The issue is how we can convince our Senators to recognize how bad it is.

One line of attack, which is the subject of an ad my organization is taking out in the Washington Times today, concerns how the Foreign Relations Committee was lied to during that September 27 hearing. Under a grilling from Senator Vitter, State Department Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III actually lied about what the treaty said on the subject of prohibiting pollution from land-based sources. This is critical because it gets to the issue of how the treaty could be used to implement the global warming treaty, also known as the Kyoto Protocol.

I do not make the charge lightly, especially since Bellinger is the State Department’s top lawyer. He should know better. But there can be no doubt that he lied when he claimed that the treaty, despite its actual text, did not cover pollution from land-based sources. He can’t be said to be ignorant since he claimed that the State Department had extensively analyzed the treaty. When Vitter had him nailed on this issue, Bellinger resorted to the old ploy of telling the Senator that the issue was “technical” and that he would submit something in writing to the committee. Vitter was magnificent, catching not only Bellinger but Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England in numerous embarrassing contradictions over what the treaty actually says and does not say not about international regulation of our economy and possible restrictions on U.S. military activities.

At the very least, Bellinger should be called back before the committee and put under oath. But it could also be argued that he should immediately resign. After all, he got caught lying about a treaty. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was forced to resign because of questionable statements about Justice Department internal personnel matters. Which offense is the more serious?

Senate Republicans are at a crossroads. Do they go along with the Bush Administration and liberal Senate Democrats in passing this treaty, thereby further obscuring the differences between the two parties on the most critical issue of our time? Or do they rediscover their roots and set out on a path of safeguarding America’s sovereignty? We are anxiously waiting for the answer. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who is waffling on the treaty, needs to take a stand – and quickly. He should seize on the issue of Bellinger’s lies before the Foreign Relations Committee as an opportunity to call for further hearings into this dangerous treaty. This is the time when leaders are made. We are waiting for Senator McConnell to take a stand -- and take the lead -- for America’s sovereignty.