; Whereas Mr. Donahue further stated that the benefits of joining cut across many important industries including telecommunications, mining, shipping, and oil and natural gas, and joining the Convention will provide the U.S. a critical voice on maritime issues—from mineral claims in the Arctic to how International Seabed Authority (ISA) funds are distributed on June 28, 2012, before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; Whereas the past Commander of United States Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, stated that UNCLOS is widely accepted after a lot of years of deliberation by many, many countries, most countries in my Area of Responsibility (AOR) and that when we're not a signatory, it reduces our overall credibility when we bring it up as a choice of how you might solve a dispute of any kind on April 16, 2015, before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; Whereas the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, stated on February 12, 2016, that [w]ith the receding of the icepack, the Arctic Ocean has become the focus of international interest, that [a]ll Arctic states agree that the Law of the Sea Convention is the governing legal regime for the Arctic Ocean … yet, we remain the only Arctic nation that has not ratified the very instrument that provides this accepted legal framework governing the Arctic Ocean and its seabed, and that [r]atification of the Law of the Sea Convention supports our economic interests, environmental protection, and safety of life at sea, especially in the Arctic Ocean