WATCH INHOFE ON THE GLENN BECK SHOW

Yesterday, Tuesday, October 17, 2007, Senator Inhofe was a guest on Glenn Beck's radio and televison programs. The Senator discussed several import issues including the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), global warming, and the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Included below is additional information that Senator Inhofe wants share with you on each of these issues.

What Senator Inhofe wants you to know about the Law of the Sea Treay:

-President Reagan refused to sign onto LOST in 1982.

-Congress has held hearing on LOST since at least 1994.  Senate EPW Committee held a public hearing on March 23, 2004 on LOST.  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held recent hearings on LOST within the last month.

-LOST creates a governing body known as the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to regulate 70% of the Earth's surface which places seadbed mining, fishing rights, and deep-sea oil exploration under the control of a global bureaucracy

-The ISA has the power to levy a global tax  that would be paid directly to the ISA by companies seeking to mine the world's oceans.

-LOST created a new global court to settle disputes under the treaty

-LOST could also infringe on the War on Terror, specifically the President's Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) which combats the transfer of WMD's.  LOST only identifies four circumstances under which ships may be stopped on the high seas.  Those are human trafficking, drug trafficking, piracy, and illegal broadcasting.  So, if the U.S. were to become a formal party to LOST, we may face challenges to our PSI program.

-LOST exempts, but most importantly does not define, military activities from dispute resolutions.  A dispute over whether a disputed activity is military could be decided by LOST judges.

RELATED LINKS:

What Senator Inhofe wants you to know about WRDA:

There is a critically important national infrastructure bill [the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 or WRDA (H.R. 1495)] that is long overdue and a model of fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, President George Bush is threatening to veto this bill, saying it contains "excessive spending". 

-The WRDA bill is an authorization bill, not an appropriations bill, so it doesn't spend a dime of Federal money. 

-The WRDA bill authorizes projects in the areas of navigation, flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction and environmental restoration.

-If it fails now, there will be no restraints - no upper limit -- placed on Congressional spending for infrastructure.

-I will personally demand a 60 vote super majority before allowing any project to exceed its authorized level.

-The authorization process is the most significant part of the process that STOPS runaway spending and distinguishes between political earmarks and true needs.

-As the most conservative member of the United States Senate, as ranked by the American Conservative Union, I have long argued that the two most important functions of the federal government are to provide for the national defense and to develop and improve public infrastructure. 

-Again, this bill does not spend any money.

RELATED INFORMATION

Paul Weyrich: Senator Inhofe: Leader in Appropriations Accountability

INHOFE CONTINUES TO MAKE HIS CASE IN SUPPORT OF WRDA, DRAWS MORE PRAISE FROM OKLAHOMA NEWSPAPERS