Washington, D.C. – Amid debate on the decades-old Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) in the Senate, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., urged his colleagues to follow the lead set by President Reagan by defeating the treaty.
Explaining the dangers of the treaty, Hunter detailed, "It is imperative that our nation does not surrender decision making power for military navigation or resource extraction, especially in this age of terrorism with technology and weapons proliferation. And adding a new set of UN bureaucrats with license to tax and adjudicate disputes is the last thing this country needs."
Hunter continued, "Rest assured no treaty that infringes on the sovereignty of the United States, or further empowers the United Nations, will get anything but a trip to the waste basket in a Hunter Administration."
Rep. Hunter has served on the House Armed Services Committee since his election to Congress in 1980 and has been that committee's chairman for four years. Serving a critical role during the Reagan Administration, he helped establish and maintain the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative. Hunter led a delegation with Rep. Henry Hyde to the Eastern Block during the Cold War stand-off to press President Reagan's policy of solidarity. Hunter also led the Republican Congress in rebuilding the U.S. military after the Clinton Administration's devastating cuts and slashes to critical defense personnel and materiel.