Oppose Law of the Sea Treaty & Global Poverty Act

This week, leaders of the U.S. Senate signaled that they are intent on giving more power to the United Nations, including the power to impose taxes, paving the way for ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. Wednesday, Feb. 13, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed by voice vote the Global Poverty Act (S. 2433), sponsored by Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). This feel good legislation commits the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, over and above what we already spend. The bill references the UN's Millennium Declaration (from 2000) which calls for countries to dramatically increase foreign aid, agree to banning “small arms and light weapons,” and sign on to many dangerous treaties, including the International Criminal Court, Kyoto Protocol, CEDAW, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The U.S. should have nothing to do with these awful treaties or the UN Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). One of the worst aspects of LOST is the mechanism for imposing a global tax by requiring companies to pay a portion of their profits to the International Seabed Authority. If the Senate passes the Obama global tax bill, LOST can't be far behind. Since President Bush has made his support for LOST well known, we imagine he would be willing to sign the global tax legislation, hoping to speed up ratification of LOST. In fact, in his 2009 budget request, President Bush included a request for $5 million for LOST and the international tribunal established by the treaty. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) questioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Wednesday's committee hearing as to why taxpayer dollars should be going to "a new bureaucratic international organization that has not been endorsed by the U.S. Senate." Secretary Rice reiterated the administration's commitment to ratification of LOST.

Take Action: The Obama global tax bill or the Law of the Sea Treaty could come up on the Senate floor anytime! Be sure to Contact your senators today and tell them to oppose both pieces of legislation. Also, Senators will be in their home offices the week of February 18. Please stop by or schedule an appointment with them to let them know you are watching their position on the Global Tax bill and LOST!

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Tags: Barack Obama, Global tax, Law of the Sea Treaty, legislation, LOST, UN, US Senate, Condoleezza Rice To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!