Kerry: No vote on Sea Treaty before election

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced Wednesday he likely won’t bring up the Law of the Sea Treaty for a vote before the November election.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said some lawmakers “on and off the committee” have candidly told him they’d “be more comfortable” if they could avoid having to cast the controversial vote during the campaign season. 

{mosads}He made the announcement during a high-level hearing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.

“I would like to see this treaty stay out of the hurly-burly of presidential politics,” Kerry said. “So heeding that advice, and preferring that we encourage the kind of evaluative and educational process which does justice to this committee and justice to the United States Senate ratification process, I announce today that I do not currently intend to bring the treaty to a vote before the November election.”