Why oh why oh why, as we as Americans, give up our taxing authority, handing money over to the United Nations...

You raise a legitimate concern.

the United States is not asserting leadership by joining the Convention

If you are going to go to war, you want to go to war with China over the South China Sea, you better lay the predicate.

What I am suggesting is this has been an abject failure for the members who have signed this and who have been members for years and years and years.

I always enjoy our conversations and I look forward to the potential to have one on this very important subject, sir.

That is going to be the law of the land if we accede to this treaty.

I would greatly disagree with that reading of it.

Whether we are in, or not in, should not make any difference whatsoever.

That is just not true.

the down-side risks for us seem much greater than that potential benefit that we might have that is clearly theoretical, not working now.

I would say that most people in America do not realize what a mess that the South China Sea is in.