Law of the Sea would usurp U.S. Navy’s authority
"Law of the Sea would usurp U.S. Navy’s authority" — Sen. Jim Inhofe and Sen. Roger Wicker and Sen. Jeff Sessions — Politico — May 22, 2012
The three Republican senators explain their opposition to ratifying UNCLOS, noting that "[c]eding any authority to an international body is not only a threat to our sovereignty, it also creates another avenue for other nations to stop U.S. unilateral activity."
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Acceding to UNCLOS would expose the U.S. to lawsuits on virtually any maritime activity, such as alleged pollution of the marine environment from a land-based source or through the atmosphere. Regardless of the merits, the U.S. would be forced to defend itself against every such lawsuit at great expense to U.S. taxpayers. Any judgment rendered by an UNCLOS tribunal would be final, could not be appealed, and would be enforceable in U.S. territory.
Keywords:Related Quotes:- Navy would be the target of a deluge of lawsuits under UNCLOS
- Under UNCLOS, US could be subject to arbitrary lawsuits with binding authority for international tribunals
- U.S. ability to exclude its military from arbitration is not absolute and our adversaries will use that to their advantage
- Even proponents of Law of Sea acknowledge ambiguity of 'military activities' clause could lead tribunal to rule against U.S. military
- ... and 4 more quote(s)
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