Kerry predicts GOP will cave to oil industry on Law of the Sea Treaty

{mosads}She went on to predict that the broad coalition lined up in favor of ratification will win out in the end over what treaty advocates say are misinformed concerns. The U.S. Navy says it needs the treaty to effectively keep the peace in places such as the South China Sea where competing sovereignty claims risk igniting a war, and the oil-and-gas industry says it can’t risk drilling in the potentially lucrative outer continental shelf if the United States doesn’t sign on to the treaty and guarantee its claims.

“No letter or whip count changes the fact that rock-ribbed Republican businesses and the military and every living Republican Secretary of State say that this needs to happen, and that’s why it’s a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ for the Law of the Sea,” she said. “The Chamber of Commerce, and the oil and gas and telecommunications industries are some of the most effective in this town because they stick to their guns and they’ve been unequivocal about the need to get this done. They’ll keep at it, and we will continue the work of answering questions and building the public record.”