The American Conservative Union (ACU) has been alerting the country to the current status of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). This treaty, created in the United Nations in the 1970s, was signed by President Clinton in 1994 after President Reagan refused to sign it in 1982. LOST sat in the Congress for nearly a decade until GOP Sen. Richar Lugar (Ind.) pushed it through the Foreign Relations Committee "under the cover of darkness." Now International Relations Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Hyde (R.-Ill.) has instructed his committee staff to prepare for LOST hearings.
The ACU notes that "LOST will give the United Nations sole power to issue permits for fishing, drilling and mining operations at sea" and that the U.N. "will be able to charge exorbitant fees and taxes to companies wishing to mine and drill overseas." In order to enforce its rules, the U.N. would have the power to set up international courts to punish any American companies which do not comply.
