Sovereignty for Sponsors

Ahead of the hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Steven Groves from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, circulated a set of questions -- including his preferred answers -- which he thought should be put to President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for the position of U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Groves wrote that the U.S. government should not agree to being bound by international treaties, such as on global warming, as they "would erode American sovereignty." Ratification of treaties requires the support of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. After the hearing Groves told Farah Stockman from the Boston Globe that "more senators should be educated about the sovereignty implications of these treaties," but conceded that "it could still be a tough fight to block them." While the Heritage Foundation does not disclose its corporate funders, ExxonMobil voluntary disclosed in its most recent report that it donated $40,000 to the think tank in 2007.