Tell Your Senators to Sign Senator DeMint’s Letter in Opposition to the UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty

Dear FreedomWorks member,

 As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senator and ask him or her to sign a letter by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) in opposition to the United Nation’s Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). Congress is once again debating signing this international treaty that establishes a comprehensive set of rules governing the seas. All senators should take a principled stance against this unconstitutional treaty that threatens our national sovereignty and conflicts with basic free market principles.

Ronald Reagan refused to sign LOST in 1982 for good reasons. His biggest objection is that the treaty would create a new United Nations (UN) agency with its own dispute resolution tribunal. Any number of issues could be adjudicated by this tribunal with no strict limits. A U.N. tribunal dictating maritime issues would hurt U.S. autonomy. The Constitution clearly does not grant an international body authority over our seas.

The United Nations would have international taxing authority through LOST. Under current law, oil companies are required to pay royalties to the U.S. Treasury for oil and gas exploration in Alaska and off the coast of Mexico. If the U.S. ratifies LOST, it would require them to transfer a part of their royalties to the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica. International taxation would be taxation without representation since the UN is an unelected body that does not best represent the needs of the American people.

The treaty could cost the U.S. trillions of dollars and the American people would have no say on how the money is spent. There is no need to sign this treaty since the United States already honors most of the provisions of treaty. It would only threaten our national sovereignty and impose regulations that would stifle economic growth. I urge you to contact your senator and ask him or her to sign a letter by Sen. Jim DeMint in opposition to the United Nation’s Law of the Sea Treaty.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here to see a PDF version of this letter.]