; Whereas former Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, further stated that remaining outside Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) is inconsistent with our principles, our national security strategy and our leadership in commerce and trade and that virtually every major ally of the U.S. is a party to LOSC, as are all other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and all other Arctic nations on June 14, 2012, before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; Whereas Admiral Greenert further stated that our absence [from LOSC] could provide an excuse for nations to selectively choose among Convention provisions or abandon it altogether, thereby eroding the navigational freedoms we enjoy today and that accession would enhance multilateral operations with our partners and demonstrate a clear commitment to the rule of law for the oceans on June 14, 2012, before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; Whereas the United States Special Representative of State for the Arctic and former Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert Papp, Jr., stated that as a non-party to the Law of the Sea Convention, the U.S. is at a significant disadvantage relative to the other Arctic Ocean coastal States, that those States are parties to the Convention, and are well along the path to obtaining legal certainty and international recognition of their Arctic extended continental shelf, and that becoming a Party to the Law of the Sea Convention would allow the United States to fully secure its rights to the continental shelf off the coast of Alaska, which is likely to extend out to more than 600 nautical miles on December 10, 2014, before the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives