The Role of Congress in Establishing U.S. Sovereignty over the Expanded Territorial Sea
![handle is hein.journals/ttsea1 and id is 133 raw text is: THE ROLE OF CONGRESS IN ESTABLISHING
U.S. SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE EXPANDED
TERRITORIAL SEA
Jack H. Archer and Joan M. Bondareff *
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On December 27, 1988, President Reagan extended the territorial sea of the
United States from three to twelve geographical miles and asserted U.S.
sovereignty over this new zone.' The President stated that [e]xtension of the
territorial sea by the United States to the limits permitted by international law
will advance the national security and other significant interests of the United
States. Thus, the major purpose of the Proclamation was to provide a greater
defense perimeterf or the United States, presumably to keep foreign intelligence-
gathering and naval vessels farther off the coast of the United States.3
At the same time, the President asserted that nothing in the Proclamation
extends or otherwise alters existing Federal or State law or any jurisdiction,
rights, legal interests, or obligations derived therefrom. The President's
intention was to extend the U.S. territorial sea to twelve miles solely for
Jack H. Archer, J.D., LI.M., Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences Program, and
Senior Associate, Urban Harbors Institute, University of Massachusetts at Boston; and Joan M.
Bondareff,J.D., Counsel, U.S. House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and former
Assistant General Counsel for Ocean Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the positions of the House Committee on
Merchant Marine and Fisheries or its members. The authors are grateful to Ames B. Colt,
Environmental Sciences Program, University of Massachusetts at Boston for his research
assistance.
1. Proclamation No. 5928,54 FED. REG. 777 (1989) [hereinafter Territorial Sea Proclamation].
2. Id.
3. Rosenthal, Reagan Extends Territorial Waters to 12 Miles, N.Y. Times, Dec. 29,1988,
at A-17. See also Schachte, History of the Territorial Sea from A National Security
Perspective, ITERR. SEAJ. 143 (1989) (this issue).
4. Territorial Sea Proclamation, supra note 1.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ttsea1&div=11&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Role of Congress in Establishing U.S. Sovereignty over the Expanded Territorial Sea
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