Originally published on the CGS blog on May 14, 2007.
President Bush deserves some credit. He has announced to “small group of trusted Republican grass-roots organizers” that he is going to strongly support U.S. Senate ratification of the Law of the Sea convention. Word is that a public announcement is imminent. Once he does so we all should look to Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) Chair Joe Biden for quick action because the ratification window is relatively small.
Bush’s public support will ensure enough votes for the treaty to pass handily on the Senate floor. Bush’s endorsement will push the numbers into the high 70’s to mid 80’s. Pretty much all Democrats are expected to support it and there are enough Republicans on board now to ratify it (including senior senators such as McCain, Stevenson, Warner, Lugar, & Hagel). But floor votes have never been the problem with putting this piece of old business to bed. The problem has been politics.
In 2004, when Senator Lugar received unanimous support for the treaty from SFRC, “amateur admirals” geared up their lie machine and create enough flack to keep then Majority Leader Frist from allowing it to come to the floor. The environment is different now and Senator Reid is much more supportive then Frist. In fact, far right opposition might be a good motivator for him to bring it to the floor just to show how out of touch they are — considering the incredibly broad support there is for ratification of this treaty.
But in the Senate timing is everything. Senator Biden has a great opportunity to display bipartisan (and presidential-like) leadership now. He should immediately call for hearings once the President’s announcement is public, and get the job done before the August recess. Right now Senate presidential candidates Biden, Clinton, Obama, McCain, and Dodd are all on the same page. Once September hits, considering the incredibly accelerated pace of the presidential election cycle, all bets are off for principled bipartisan cooperation.
Senator Biden the window is open. Sorry for mangling metaphors, but it is time to throw this hot potato and you’re on the mound.
