Law of the Sea Treaty
With Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) losing his primary, conservatives wonder if this will free up the defeated senator to push for the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) as early as later this month. The lobbying interests for LOST have hired former Republican Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) to push Republican support for a treaty he formerly believed was an infringement on American sovereignty.
Sen. Lott said it well in 2007 when he argued that the treaty “will cede our national sovereignty — both militarily and economically.” The treaty will allow an international organization hostile to U.S. interests to govern the seas, tax American citizens and impair navigational rights.
The Obama administration is excited to have the help of Lott to pass what he formerly called the “U.N. on steroids.” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was quoted in CQ saying, “Seeing Trent Lott in the room, I feel a hell of a lot better about the chances for ratification.” It was a bad idea in 2007 — and a bad idea today.
Spending bills move in Congress
The appropriations bills are moving, and President Obama has already issued a veto threat on the $50 billion Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations measure over gun control. One issue mentioned in the Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) dated May 7, 2012 stated that “preventing the [Obama administration] from requiring licensed firearms dealers in four border States to report information on the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person would hamper efforts to address the problem of illegal gun trafficking along the Southwest Border and in Mexico.”
We now know that the Obama administration was selling guns to Mexican drug cartels as part of the Fast and Furious scandal. But no scandal will deter President Obama from trying to restrict Second Amendment rights for all Americans.
Brian Darling is Senior Fellow for Government Studies at The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org).
