On June 14, Gen. Charles Jacoby, Jr., commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM spoke to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the Law of the Sea Treaty.
“Chairman Kerry, Senator Lugar, distinguished members of the Committee, I appreciate this opportunity to provide my position on the Law of the Sea Convention. As a combatant
commander with mission responsibilities for homeland defense and civil support in the maritime approaches to the homeland with an increasingly accessible Arctic Ocean, I fully support our nation’s accession to the Convention. From an Arctic perspective, our accession to the Convention is important to encouraging cooperative relationships among Arctic states and securing continental shelf limits and natural resources in the Arctic as human activity increases. From a global perspective, with the overwhelming majority of countries being party to the Convention, it is the internationally recognized legal framework that will formalize our nation’s standing and leadership where our vital interests are at stake, secure U.S. rights over extensive marine resources, promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and support our national security interests in the maritime domain.”
You can read Gen. Jacoby’s statement in its entirety here.
