Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak on climate change's radical alteration of the Earth's marine environments--particularly in the Arctic--and how these epic changes in the environment strengthen the case of U.S. accession to the Law of the Sea Treaty. Competitors of the United States in the global economy are taking advantage of climate change's environmental impact on the Arctic, particularly how the disappearance of Arctic sea ice is opening new shipping lanes and access to the mineral resources in the Arctic seabed. Our competitors' advances in the Arctic are happening at the expense of U.S. national security, energy development, and maritime transit interests, and it is the failure of the United States to join the treaty that is giving those countries a huge advantage of staking a claim in largely unclaimed territory. In the 3\1/2\ years since a partisan effort thwarted the Senate from providing the necessary advice and consent of the Law of the Sea Treaty, the United States has ceded millions in potential economic opportunity in the Arctic, and we have no recourse to dispute the legality of any of the territorial and economic zone expansions countries like Russia are making in the Arctic waters and sea ice.…”