"We Gotta Get That Done!" - John Kerry

"We gotta get that done!" was a statement made by Kerry on May 5, 2009, when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hosted a round table event to discuss the future of the Arctic titled The Global Implications of a Warming Arctic. Guests included; Scott Borgerson, the author of the May 2009 Council on Foreign Relations report, The National Interest and the Law of the Sea; Lisa Speer, Oceans Program Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Lawson Brigham, Chair of the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment of the Arctic Council; Mead Treadwell, Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission; and David Carlson, Director of the International Polar Year International Program Office. A warming Arctic means new shipping avenues open to the world that never were before. Treadwell, Brigham, and Carlson forcefully argued for the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] and John Kerry, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agreed! All of the participants stated that ratifying UNCLOS is a matter of national security and in our best business interests. UNCLOS guarantees freedom of navigation and therefore safety for Americans no matter where they are in the world on water. Having a "harmonized set of shipping rules" can help American businesses take advantage of trade routes opening in the Arctic. Right now, Russians are charging a tariff and demanding an icebreaker to escort ships through the Arctic. It is clear that the United States must become part of UNCLOS. ACT NOW to tell your Congressperson to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea!