Senator Begich Endorsed LOS Convention at Council on Foreign Relations Meeting

The Law of the Sea Convention codifies navigation and overflight rights and high seas freedoms that are essential for the global mobility of our armed forces. It directly supports our national security interests. Not being a party to this Convention constrains efforts to develop enduring maritime partnerships, inhibits efforts to expand the Proliferation Security Initiative, and elevates the level of risk for our Sailors as they undertake operations to preserve navigation rights and freedoms, particularly in areas such as the Strait of Hormuz and Arabian Gulf, and the East and South China Seas. By becoming a party to the Convention, the U.S. will be able to expand its sovereign rights to the increasingly accessible outer continental shelf areas of the resource rich environment of the Arctic, as well as in other locations where technological advances are opening up previously unobtainable resources. Accession to the Law of the Sea Convention remains a priority for our Navy.