U.S. should ratify UNCLOS to have ability to actively engage in the evolution of the ISA

The authority is not only a regime designed to manage the exploitation of the mineral resources of the deep ocean floor. It is also a prototype for new multilateral regimes in other spaces and resources. Innovations such as chambered voting by interest groups, emphasis on decision-making by consensus, formal roles for panels of experts and extensive contributions by expert bodies and individuals will be test- ed in the authority, and the successes and failures in this regime will provide lessons for the negotiation of otber regimes in the future. Members have already indicated the importance of U.S. participation in the organization through the 1994 Agreement, which addressed all the U.S. concerns witb tbe seabeds issues in UNCLOS. The opportunity to help lead this organization tbrough its substantive contributions, and even more through its inspirational standards, is now here. The Bush administration bas given its support to U.S. ratification of UNCLOS and the 1994 Agreement. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee bas endorsed it unani- mously. The potential for U.S. leadership in a new multilateral organization rests now with tbe leadership of tbe U.S. Senate, whicb should move forward by giving its advice and consent to the convention and tbe 1994 Agreement on Implementation.