Cable ships like this one circle the globe, making sure our bits get where they need to go.
On Thursday morning, the head of Verizon became the latest telecommunications industry executive to testify on Capitol Hill in support of the Law of the Sea, a major international treaty which was signed in 1982 and ratified by major world powers, including the European Union, China, Japan, Russia, Canada, India, Australia, Mexico and many others.
"Given their importance to global networks and the world economy, there must be an appropriate legal framework based upon global cooperation and the rule of law to protect submarine cables," CEO Lowell McAdam told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The United States, along with nearly all countries in the world, has been a signatory to the treaty since 1994, but has not ratified it into law. This year, there has been a renewed push, particularly by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), the chair on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to have the upper house of the American legislative body approve and ratify this 30-year-old treaty. The Clinton and Bush Administrations pushed for ratification before a full Senate floor vote, but did not manage to bring it to the floor. American conservatives are largely against the treaty, as they view it as an international encroachment against American sovereignty—and more practically, supporters haven't had the two-thirds majority to pass it.
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