UNCLOS has widespread support in the military, diplomatic, and intelligence communities

Despite opposition by a few members of Congress, UNCLOS ratification has widespread support in the military, diplomatic and intelligence communities. The Departments of Defense, State and National Intelligence have consistently advocated that the Senate should ratify the treaty.⁶⁵ In fact, all of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have written the Senate letters seeking the Senate’s advice and consent.⁶⁶ Moreover, in his last NSPD before leaving office, President George W. Bush explicitly sought UNCLOS’s ratification.⁶⁷ At the end of 2007, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted to recommend ratification.⁶⁸ The U.S. Senate’s vote is pending.