Originally published on the CGS blog on October 25, 2007.
Yesterday, Republican Senate leadership celebrated October 24th, United Nations Day, by engaging in one of their favorite sports, base pandering. At the expense of our nation’s security they took the opportunity to bash the Law of the Sea convention and the United Nations. At a press conference, Minority Leader McConnell declared his opposition to the treaty saying it would “subjugate the rights and interests of the United States.” His sidekick, the senator from South Carolina, Jim DeMint added in, “We have seen with our involvement in the United Nations, the many times countries involved with these bodies don’t vote in our interest.”
What are these guys thinking? Even President Bush gets it. Yesterday he issued a proclamation celebrating the United Nations saying:
“On United Nations Day, we recognize the contributions of this important body and underscore our dedication to reforming the institution and advancing the high ideals on which it was founded.”
Earlier in the year, the President called for ratification of the Law of the Sea saying:
“I urge the Senate to act favorably on U.S. accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea during this session of Congress. Joining will serve the national security interests of the United States, including the maritime mobility of our armed forces worldwide. It will secure U.S. sovereign rights over extensive marine areas, including the valuable natural resources they contain. Accession will promote U.S. interests in the environmental health of the oceans. And it will give the United States a seat at the table when the rights that are vital to our interests are debated and interpreted.”
So yesterday, Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue weighed-in on our nation’s important relationship with the only global forum where all countries can work together to solve the problems that we cannot solve alone. And what did Democratic Senatorial leadership have to say?
Well, nothing. Not one word about the United Nations or the Law of the Sea
I’m not sure what’s worse for our nation; misinformation from Republican Senate leaders or silence, and the complicity that it signals, from the Democratic leadership. What do you think?
