[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 20 (Monday, May 21, 2007)]
[Page 635]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Advancement of United States Maritime Interests

May 15, 2007

    I am acting to advance U.S. interests in the world's oceans in two 
important ways.
    First, I urge the Senate to act favorably on U.S. accession to the 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea during this session of 
Congress. Joining will serve the national security interests of the 
United States, including the maritime mobility of our Armed Forces 
worldwide. It will secure U.S. sovereign rights over extensive marine 
areas, including the valuable natural resources they contain. Accession 
will promote U.S. interests in the environmental health of the oceans. 
And it will give the United States a seat at the table when the rights 
that are vital to our interests are debated and interpreted.
    Second, I have instructed the U.S. delegation to the International 
Maritime Organization (IMO) to submit a proposal for international 
measures that would enhance protection of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine 
National Monument, the area including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
    Last June, I issued a proclamation establishing the monument, a 
1,200-mile stretch of coral islands, seamounts, banks, and shoals that 
are home to some 7,000 marine species. The United States will propose 
that the IMO designate the entire area as a Particularly Sensitive Sea 
Area (PSSA)--similar to areas such as the Florida Keys, the Great 
Barrier Reef, and the Galapagos Archipelago--which will alert mariners 
to exercise caution in the ecologically important, sensitive, and 
hazardous area they are entering. This proposal, like the Convention on 
the Law of the Sea, will help protect the maritime environment while 
preserving the navigational freedoms essential to the security and 
economy of every nation.