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