Jim Webb: “I would share that I think Senator Webb's comments about the difficulty of creating a fully functional government in…”

The federal recognition process has been fraught with challenges that need to be addressed.

If the government is so repressive that it deliberately kills its own people--that is the standard where you say that government no longer has validity--then it does not matter how powerful that government is.

However, the administrative process which is the specific topic of your hearing today, is subject to unreasonable delays, lacks clear guidance and is expensive.

We do support the validity of internationally accepted Exclusive Economic Zones, those that are set out under basically agreed-upon international law.