US Senator Lindsey Graham’s been out-of-touch with SC voters many times before, but rarely with such dire consequences for our country. This time, Senator Graham’s flirting with supporting the ratification of the UN Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), which would cede control of US territorial waters to the United Nations. This treaty has been around since the 1980’s and the Reagan Administration. President Reagan, seeing it for what it is, a massive wealth redistribution scheme that would also erode US sovereignty, said “no thanks.”
Apparently, Senator John McCain’s checking of his national security bona fides at the door has encouraged Senator Graham to do the same. Of course, they’re couching it in the language of American interests, but that’s just not so remotely the case. Proponents of the treaty, which actually includes an alarming number of Republicans, claim that failure to ratify such a treaty would leave the American Navy in the cold when it comes to navigable water rights and freedom of the seas. Forgive me for not knowing that a multinational organization that usurps national sovereignty was the way to ensure freedom of the seas. All this time, I thought it was the US Navy’s ability to blow any threatening ship out of the water. How silly of this close minded national security conservative.
The LOST treaty was a bad idea in 1982, and it’s a bad idea today. Just as then, it will allow the UN International Seabed Authority (ISA) to collect royalties (aka, taxes) off of US companies operating in even US territorial waters. Hello $7 per gallon gas, as oil companies build these “royalties” into our price at the pump. Hello, ability for foreign vessels to patrol US waters and receive US port intelligence ( including the signatory countries China and Iran). Hello days of the US admiral asking the UN if he can defend US ships and our national security interests.
The entire premise is so incredibly ignorant that it almost defies belief. Nevertheless, President Obama has already signed the treaty and is wanting the US Senate to ratify it, because that’s what the Constitution requires, until he gets denied and goes around the Congress altogether.
Thankfully, our founders were wise enough to understand that a misguided President may just jeopardize his own country for the sake of his ideology; that’s exactly what has happened in this case. That’s why the Senate must ratify the treaty by a 2/3 majority of 100 members, meaning that it can be blocked with just 34 Senators dissenting. Senator Jim DeMint, being the true man of principle, has already worked with Senate Conservatives to get 32 senators to oppose LOST. We need TWO MORE VOTES to dispense with this threat to American sovereignty and national security.
Please, join me in supporting Senator DeMint and Senate conservatives, and let’s send Senator Graham the message that this is not a minor issue. We cannot have a conservative gone overboard lead America to being LOST at sea.
