Excerpted from the full transcript of the hearings)

LUGAR: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

And I'm heartened by your initial testimony, Secretary Negroponte, that you favor a Law of the Sea Treaty.

Let me just ask, what is your suggestion to us or to the administration as to how progress on that treaty might be effected?

LUGAR: We've been working on this, as you know, for a while and it hasn't happened yet. But I would be hopeful the chairman would initiate work on the situation.

Would you just affirm again the administration's position?

NEGROPONTE: Well, I'm grateful that you ask the question. And I put the reference to Law the Sea in my opening statement because I spent a number of years working on related questions. And there must be literally hundreds of individuals in this town and throughout the United States who, at one point or another over the past 30 or 35 years, have worked on the Law of the Sea.

And you will recall, Senator, back in the 1970s, this was considered one of the defining issues in negotiations between us and the third world.

I think it's a treaty that is very much in the national interests and the national security interests.

I understand it's been voted out of the committee one time and sent to the floor.

I've also been advised that given the time that has elapsed, it may be desirable, but this would be your own -- this would be to the Senate and your committee -- to have another hearing on the issue of the Law of the Sea before sending it back forward.

But I do think that a very strong case can be made that this is a treaty that is in the national interests -- protects our economic and national security interests.

LUGAR: Thank you for that affirmation.

Contact: David Roscow 703-276-2772 x21

High Level Group Says "US Must Join the Law of the Sea" (August, 2005)

Letter Urges Senate To Take Action

Bipartisan Group of Governors, US and Pew Ocean Commissioners, Former Cabinet Secretaries, Members of House and Senate Among More Than 70 Signers

Washington DC – Calling upon the Senate to support US accession to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a bipartisan coalition of more than 70 influential national leaders including government officials, business leaders, environmental advocates, and interest groups urged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) for rapid Senate approval of the treaty.

“Accession to the Convention is vital to US national security, economic, and international leadership interests,” according to the letter sent to Senator Frist. “The Convention has been thoroughly reviewed in Senate hearings and public forums, and has overwhelming support from a broad coalition that has carefully considered the issues from a variety of perspectives.”

This effort to push the Senate forward on Law of the Sea Convention was headed by the bipartisan duo of Admiral James D. Watkins and Leon E. Panetta, chairs of the US Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission respectively, both of which unanimously recommended accession to the Convention as an important part of a comprehensive and coordinated US ocean policy. Admiral Watkins and Mr. Panetta will also be seeking a meeting with Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to press for expeditious committee approval of a resolution of accession to the Law of the Sea Convention, thus allowing the Convention to be brought to the Senate floor for consideration before the end of this session of Congress.

“The Convention codifies and strengthens freedoms of navigation and overflight essential to U.S. military mobility,” Admiral Watkins said. “The Navy and Coast Guard have testified that joining the Convention will strengthen our ability to defend these and other important maritime rights, and will enhance our national and homeland security efforts.”

Among the signers of the letter are Walter Cronkite, former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright, James A. Baker, Colin Powell, former National Security Advisor Robert C. McFarlane, President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute Red Cavaney, CEO of The Nuclear Threat Initiative Sam Nunn, Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund William Reilly, former Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas R. Pickering, former EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus, former Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans, former Senators Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), John Breaux (D-LA), and Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), George Pataki (R-NY), and Christine Gregoire (D-WA).

“All major US ocean industries, including offshore energy, maritime transportation and commerce, fishing, and shipbuilding support US accession to the Convention,” said Mr. Panetta. “Its provisions help protect vital US economic interests and provide the certainty and stability crucial for investment in global maritime enterprises. Accession to the Law of the Sea Convention will also emphasize US support for multilateral cooperation on an issue of significant international importance.”

Currently, there are 148 nations party to the Law of the Sea Convention including every major industrial nation except the US. The importance of US accession was further reinforced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her confirmation hearing where she stated that “…the Convention as it stands now serves our national security interests, our economic interests,” and urged favorable consideration by the Senate “as soon as possible.”

<a href="http://www.clgd.org/downloads/unclos/frist-aug05.pdf" target=_blank>View the letter with all signatures

Testimony in Support of the Convention:

• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Schachte-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>William Schachte
• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Moore-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>John Norton Moore
• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Taft-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>William H. Taft, IV
• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Clark-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>Adm. Vern Clark, Chief of Naval Operations

Testimony in Opposition

• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Kirkpatrick-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>Jeane Kirkpatrick
• <a href="http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/lostestimony/Middendorf-ArmedServices.pdf" target=_blank>Wiliam Middendorf

Barry Desker, Director of the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, has an article in the Japan Tmes that discusses opportunities to improve security in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. After discussing the rising threats of piracy and terrorism as a threat to maritime traffic and the costs of interruption in the event that traffic were diverted away from the straits for safety or security concerns, he goes on to discuss the meeting of the IMO planned for September in Jakarta as an opportunity for littoral and user states to begin to address issues of navigational safety, environmental protection and maritime security in the Maslacca Straits.

In discussing options for the future, he says:

One approach could be the institutionalization of the IMO-sponsored meeting on the straits of Malacca and Singapore involving all interested parties. It could go beyond the modest objectives envisaged in the original proposal to consider ways and means of implementing Article 43 of UNCLOS.

Such an inclusive process will strengthen the commitment of user states to meet the costs of upgrading the capabilities of the littoral states. It will also encourage the user states to ensure the provision of safety and navigational aids and the establishment of state-of-the-art electronic information systems.

Over the longer term, the formation of a regional coordinating center could be envisaged. The center could help coordinate responses by naval, coast guard and marine-police forces operating in or traversing through the straits in the event of acts of piracy or maritime terrorism.

Mr. Desker's article is located at: <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20050323a1.htm>