Appendix H
NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION

In October 1994, the President transmitted the UN Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention to the Senate for advice and consent. DoD has long supported the United States becoming a party to the Convention, provided U.S. concerns with its deep seabed mining provisions could be adequately addressed. The Deep Seabed Mining Implementing Agreement of July 1994 removed those concerns and cleared the way for widespread acceptance of the entire Convention, which is of major strategic and economic importance to the United States.

The United States is and will continue to be a global power with global interests. Protecting these interests will require U.S. security commitments around the world and, when vital U.S. interests are threatened, a willingness to use American military power. The LOS Convention establishes agreed international rules regarding freedoms of navigation and flight essential for maintaining the global mobility, presence, and readiness of U.S. armed forces. The navigational rights and freedoms in the Convention are used on a daily basis by naval and air forces of the United States, its allies, and coalition partners.

The United States is moving into a new era where the LOS Convention, already having come into force with over 100 parties, is gaining more and more importance in maintaining the balance between coastal and maritime interests. Most key U.S. maritime allies, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom, as well as other Organization for Economic Cooperation Development countries who, like the United States, had previously refused to become a party, have joined or are in the process of joining very soon.

The United States, being both a maritime and a coastal nation with the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, has much to gain by becoming a party. In fact, the United States risks seriously degrading its ability to speak with authority if it fails to join, because the United States will then become the world's most important maritime power outside the Convention. Receiving the Senate's advice and consent at the earliest possible time is the next step for ensuring continued American leadership in this vital area.