Clinton pushes the U.S. to ratify the Law of the Sea, an international treaty that consolidates power to signatories for increased economic development and controls over coastal lands (e.g., it increases rights of signatories to drill for oil and mine on the ocean floor. Also helps with tourism, fisheries, navigation, and “security.” Ocean environmental protection, species conservation, and water quality are mere add-ons, but the treaty does help with some protection.). Conservatives oppose signing the treaty due to a persistent myth that the treaty would decrease U.S. sovereignty and also force companies to use better equipment and stop polluting.

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Law of the Sea with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey in Washington, D.C. on May 23, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]