Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let me say that I feel that a lot of these discussions could be quite academic if we look at this possible scenario. We have the capability to do surveillance in the Arctic. We have the capability to assert our Arctic sovereignty. It's easy to put hard assets in there to make the preference. The day when another foreign country comes and plants its flag in our soil and says that they claim this for XYZ country is not going to happen.
My question has to do with enforcement of that sovereignty. If Japanese, Chinese, Russian, or Scandinavian fishing vessels happen to cross into the Arctic Ocean to take fish, either accidentally or realistically, or if they try to use the Northwest Passage to shorten their trading links from the Atlantic into the Pacific, what do we do about enforcement? Obviously with some civil society we could easily go in and negotiate it. With some countries where we don't have that ability to negotiate a treaty, how do we enforce our sovereignty in that area?