CSHJR 39(STA): Urging the United States Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty.
00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39(STA) 01 Urging the United States Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS, in August 2007, Russia sent two small submarines into the Arctic Ocean 04 to plant that nation's flag under the North Pole to support its territorial claim that its 05 continental shelf extends to the North Pole; and 06 WHEREAS Denmark is exploring whether a mountain range under the Arctic Ocean 07 is connected to Greenland, a territory of Denmark; and 08 WHEREAS Canada is considering the establishment of military bases to protect its 09 claim to the Northwest Passage; and 10 WHEREAS the actions taken by Russia, Denmark, and Canada have been exercised 11 under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and 12 WHEREAS the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea permits member 13 nations to claim an exclusive economic zone out to 200 nautical miles from shore, with an 14 exclusive sovereign right to explore, manage, and develop all living and nonliving resources, 15 including deep sea mining, within that exclusive economic zone; and 16 WHEREAS the United States Arctic Research Commission estimates that the United
01 Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea would permit the United States to lay claim 02 beyond the present 200-mile exclusive economic zone to an area of the northern seabed off 03 Alaska that is equal in size to California; and 04 WHEREAS 155 nations have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of 05 the Sea, including all allies of the United States and the world's maritime powers; and 06 WHEREAS ratification of the current form of the United Nations Convention on the 07 Law of the Sea has been pending before the United States Senate since 1994, and hearings on 08 the treaty were held by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 1994, 09 2003, and 2004, and on September 27, 2007, and October 4, 2007; and 10 WHEREAS, despite favorable reports by the United States Senate Committee on 11 Foreign Relations regarding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2004 12 and 2007, the United States Senate has yet to vote on the ratification of the Convention; and 13 WHEREAS the United States, with 1,000 miles of Arctic coast off of the State of 14 Alaska, remains the only Arctic nation that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on 15 the Law of the Sea; and 16 WHEREAS, until the United States Senate votes to ratify the United Nations 17 Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United States may not have the authority to promote its 18 claims to an extended area of the continental shelf, refute the claim of authority by other 19 nations to exercise greater control over the Arctic, or take a permanent seat on the 20 International Seabed Authority Council; and 21 WHEREAS, until the United States ratifies the United Nations Convention on the 22 Law of the Sea, the United States cannot participate in deliberations to amend provisions of 23 the Convention that relate to the 24 (1) oil, gas, and mineral resources in the Arctic Ocean and other northern 25 waters; 26 (2) conduct of essential scientific research in the world's oceans; 27 (3) right of the United States to the use of the seas; 28 (4) rules of navigation; 29 (5) effect of the use of the seas on world economic development; and 30 (6) environmental concerns related to the use of the seas; and 31 WHEREAS the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will have an
01 important and beneficial effect on virtually all states, both coastal and noncoastal, because the 02 United States is heavily dependent on the use, development, and conservation of the world's 03 oceans and their resources; and 04 WHEREAS the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will not interfere 05 with the intelligence-gathering efforts of the United States or the navigational freedom of the 06 United States Navy; and 07 WHEREAS ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has 08 wide bipartisan support, including support for the ratification by Senator Joseph R. Biden, 09 Chair of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; Senator Richard G. Lugar, 10 ranking Republican on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; and the 11 President of the United States; 12 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States Senate 13 to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 14 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice- 15 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Joseph R. 16 Biden, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Richard G. 17 Lugar, ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the 18 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, members of the 19 Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the United States Senate.