However, the Senate took no action. In the 110 th Congress, UNCLOS was reported on December 19, 2007, by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (S.Exec.Rept. In the 111 th Congress, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on January 13, 2009, acknowledged that U.S. accession to UNCLOS would be an Obama Administration priority. Later in this confirmation hearing, then-Senator John Kerry, the committee chair, confirmed that UNCLOS would also be a committee priority. However, the Senate took no action on UNCLOS during the 111 th Congress. In the 112 th Congress, the Administration continued to encourage Senate action on UNCLOS, but again no action was taken. In the 113 th Congress, there has been little or no mention of UNCLOS and no actions have been taken to ratify the treaty. Policy issues relating to areas beyond living resources that are likely to draw Senate attention are discussed more fully in CRS Report RS21890, The U.N. Law of the Sea Convention and the United States: Developments Since October 2003 , by [author name scrubbed], and include
the dispute settlement process set forth in UNCLOS and the U.S. declarations on dispute settlement; the relationship between U.S. law and various parts of UNCLOS regarding use of the world's oceans; U.S. acceptance of the UNCLOS/Agreement interpretation and application of the common heritage of mankind concept; the provisional application procedures as a precedent in the U.S. treaty process; the nature of U.S. commitments undertaken by a decision of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council—what does a council decision commit the U.S. government to do? UNCLOS could provide several new privileges, primarily related to participation in commissions developing international ocean policy. It appears that no new domestic legislation would be required to implement the living resources provisions of UNCLOS. Conclusion

As presently understood and interpreted, the LOS provisions generally appear to reflect current U.S. policy with respect to living marine resource management, conservation, and exploitation. Based on these interpretations, the living resource provisions of UNCLOS are generally not seen as imposing significant new U.S. obligations, commitments, or encumbrances involving living resources and their management. One possible benefit of U.S. ratification would be the international community's anticipated positive response to such U.S. action. On the other hand, some U.S. interests view U.S. ratification as potentially complicating enforcement of domestic marine regulations. These uncertainties reflect the absence of any comprehensive assessment of the social and economic impacts of UNCLOS implementation by the United States. Although early ITLOS cases do not indicate a problem, some in the United States remain concerned that UNCLOS's language concerning arbitrary refusal of access to surplus (unallocated) living resources might be a potential source of conflict. Proponents of UNCLOS maintain that U.S. participation in the development of policies and practices of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and the International Seabed Authority could help to forestall future problems related to living marine resources. In addition, they indicate that the Senate could choose to address some of the intentional ambiguities of UNCLOS drafters with its power to make declarations and statements as provided for in Article 310. Such declarations and statements can be useful in promulgating U.S. policy and putting other nations on notice of U.S. interpretation of UNCLOS.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea established a comprehensive international legal framework for governing activities related to the world's oceans. UNCLOS was agreed to in 1982, but the United States never became a signatory nation. This report describes provisions of UNCLOS relating to living marine resources and discusses how these provisions comport with current U.S. marine policy. As presently understood and interpreted, these provisions generally appear to reflect current U.S. policy with respect to living marine resource management, conservation, and exploitation. Based on these interpretations, they are generally seen as not imposing significant new U.S. obligations, commitments, or encumbrances, and are seen as providing several new privileges, primarily related to participation in commissions developing international ocean policy. No new domestic legislation appears to be required to implement the living resources provisions of UNCLOS.
A possible benefit of U.S. ratification would be the international community's anticipated positive response to such U.S. action. In addition, early U.S. participation in the development of policies and practices of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and the International Seabed Authority could help to forestall future conflicts related to living marine resources. On the other hand, some U.S. interests view U.S. ratification as potentially complicating enforcement of domestic marine regulations, and remain concerned that UNCLOS's language concerning arbitrary refusal of access to surplus (unallocated) living resources might be a potential source of conflict (in addition to concerns about other provisions of the Convention). These uncertainties reflect the absence of any comprehensive assessment of the social and economic impacts of UNCLOS implementation by the United States.
The Senate may choose to address the ambiguities of UNCLOS with its power to make declarations and statements, as provided for in Article 310 of the Convention. Such declarations and statements can be useful in promulgating U.S. policy and putting other nations on notice of U.S. interpretation of UNCLOS.
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reported UNCLOS on December 19, 2007, but no action was taken by the entire Senate. In the 111th Congress, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on January 13, 2009, acknowledged that U.S. accession to UNCLOS would be an Obama Administration priority. Later in this confirmation hearing, then-Senator John Kerry, the committee chair, confirmed that UNCLOS would also be a committee priority. However, the Senate took no action on UNCLOS during the 111th Congress. In the 112th Congress, the Administration continued to encourage Senate action on UNCLOS, and Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, was guardedly optimistic, but no action was taken. In the 113th Congress, there has been little or no mention of UNCLOS and no actions have been taken to ratify the treaty.