“It’s well past time, but not too late.” ~ Admiral Dennis Blair, former Director of National Intelligence

In an open letter to the top-ranking U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations members, nearly 350 former government and military officials urged Congress to ratify the 30-year-old U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The international law started in 1964 and was ratified by 168 countries, including the European Union (EU), representing 93% of the planet’s governments.

Specifically, the letter states:

We have already lost two of our four “USA” designated deep seabed mid sites, each containing a trillion dollars in value of the strategic minerals of copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and rare earths, minerals critical both for United States security dominance as well as the transition to a greener twenty-first century. Continued inaction on the Treaty means a likely quick loss of our remaining two “USA” designated sites. Moreover, China has moved forward to obtain five sites and the Russian Federation three and they are also moving to obtain a monopoly on refining of these strategic minerals.

Signatories of the letter addressed to Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman, and James E. Risch, Ranking Minoring Member, of the Committee include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. They are a who’s who of former U.S. government officials, including Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, the Navy, and Air Force, Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Directors of National Intelligence, Senators, and Admirals of the Navy and Coast Guard.

From the Letter in Support of Senate Advice and Consent for the Convention of the Law of the Sea

We at Impossible Metals agree with Admiral Dennis Blair and believe that the U.S. must ratify UNCLOS immediately. This is led by the signatories calling on the Senate to provide advice and consent for UNCLOS as an urgent priority. Failure to act undermines U.S. security and economic interests.

Read the full letter here.

60 Minutes video from March 25, 2024 on why the US has not ratified UNCLOS