LOST - LEGISLATIVE ALERT
MichaelConnelly.Jigsy.com
In 1982 while Ronald Reagan was President of
the United States a treaty was drafted under the
auspices of the United Nations that would establish
international control of the oceans and everything
underneath them. It is called the Law of the Sea
Treaty (LOST) and most nations have since signed on
to it. However, President Reagan refused to sign it
because he felt that it was not in the best interest
of the United States to be a part of it. He feared a
loss of U.S. sovereignty if we became a party to it.
Some superficial changes were made to the
wording of the treaty and President Bill Clinton
signed it on behalf of the United States. However,
the U.S. Constitution requires that any treaty
signed by the President must be ratified by a two
thirds vote of the Senate in order to go into
effect. Clinton was never able to muster the votes
in the Senate to bring it up for ratification.
During his second term President George W.
Bush tried to push the treaty through the Senate. He
had almost unanimous support of the Democrats in the
Senate, (which alone makes me suspicious of the
treaty), but most Republican Senators stood their
ground and opposed it so it never go the support of
the required two thirds.
Now, we have a President who is pushing one
socialist cause after another and is apparently
intent on turning the United States into a nation
that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United
Nations. With the help of Massachusetts Senator John
Kerry he is making a major effort to get this treaty
ratified before the 2012 elections. This would
appear to be another wasted effort, but something
has changed. We are suddenly seeing a number of
Republican Senators who have thus far refused to
come out in opposition to the treaty.
I have read the treaty and agree with former
U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, and the
scholars at the Heritage Foundation who have all
expressed serious concerns about the provisions of
the treaty. Among other things, the treaty
establishes an enormous UN bureaucracy to administer
its provisions. It will have very little
accountability and the U.S. will be forced to comply
with its mandates, even if they are contrary to our
national interests.
This bureaucracy will be partially funded by
an international tax on U.S. companies that are
drilling or mining in the oceans. Some of the money
taken from these companies and their shareholders
will then be distributed to so called “emerging
nations” that will be chosen by the UN. Some of
these nations may be states that sponsor terrorism
and are enemies of the United States. Under the
provisions of our Constitution, only the Congress
can impose taxes on American citizens and
businesses, yet this treaty would violate the
Constitution and give that authority to a foreign
body.
There is also language in the treaty that can
be interpreted to put the maneuvering of U.S. Navy
warships subject to UN approval. In other words, we
might not be able to take military action to protect
our nation’s security without specific permission of
the UN. Remember, the Obama appointed Secretary of
Defense, Leon Panetta, has already told a
Congressional Committee that he and the President do
not believe that it is necessary for them to get
approval of Congress to go to war, as required by
the Constitution. Instead they believe that UN or
NATO approval is sufficient.
In addition, there are the troublesome
provisions in the treaty that give this UN
bureaucracy the right to impose restrictions on U.S.
land based industries in order to push the “climate
change” agenda. This could potentially include
ordering the closing of utility plants that use coal
or other energy sources that the UN feels could
threaten the oceans. Forget, the fact that the whole
climate change agenda is based on what has now been
proven to be fraudulent scientific data, Obama and
the UN bureaucrats like it and that is what is
important to them.
In fact, that is probably the most troubling
aspect of the treaty for me. If it is ratified by
the U.S. Senate it will put immense power in the
hands of the UN and that is exactly what our
President wants. The loss of U.S. sovereignty to an
international body is a recognized goal of his. It
is important to remember that once a treaty is
signed and ratified it becomes the supreme law of
our nation, and can’t be reversed or modified by a
future President or Congress except by a
Constitutional amendment.
Senator Kerry is planning to try and bring
the treaty to a vote in the next few weeks. Everyone
reading this blog should immediately contact their
Senators and demand that they vote against it. As of
the latest count I have seen we need at least seven
more Republican Senators to come out in opposition
to it in order to ensure its defeat.
The
Republican Senators that as of May 27th have so far
failed to do this are: Lamar Alexander (TN), Kelly
Ayotte (NH), Scott Brown (MA), Thad Cochran (MS),
Susan Collins (ME),
Bob Corker (TN), Michael Enzi (WY), Lindsey Graham
(SC), Chuck Grassley (IA), Kay Bailey Hutchison
(TX), Johnny Isakson (GA), Mike Johanns (NE), Mark
Kirk (IL), Richard Lugar (IN),John McCain (AZ),
Mitch McConnell (KY),
Murkowski, Lisa, (AK), Portman, Rob (OH), Snowe,
Olympia (ME), and Toomey, Patrick (PA). (Note, I
have seen unconfirmed reports that Senators
McConnell and Corker are very close to coming out in
opposition.) They should be immediately contacted
along with all the others on this list. In fact
everyone should contact their Senators to find out
where they stand.
mrobertc@hotmail.com
www.michaelconnelly.jigsy.com
www.constitution.jigsy.com