Senator Jim Webb chaired a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs hearing recently where he called on the Administration to use American influence to discourage the use of military force or the unilateral expansion of sovereignty claims in East Asia, and to employ the "creative energy of our leadership" to seek the resolution of escalating maritime territorial disputes.
 
“What we have been witnessing over the past several years is not simply a series of tactical disputes.  They are an accumulation of tactical incidents designed to pursue a larger strategic agenda.  Virtually every country in the region understands that.  It is the duty of the United States to respond, carefully and fully, to it,” said Senator Webb.

Read Senator Webb’s full statement here.

Read Senator Webb’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on the subject here.

Senator Jim Webb recently cosponsored the introduction of The Offshore Petroleum Expansion Now Act of 2012. This bipartisan legislation would expand American offshore energy production with a revised five-year leasing plan and provide revenue sharing to all participating coastal states. The bill provides an alternative to the Administration's proposed 2012-2017 offshore oil and gas leasing plan, which excludes Virginia.

"I have long advocated opening up more of the nation's outer continental shelf resources to responsible natural gas and oil exploration," said Senator Webb. "Energy exploration and subsequent production within the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf — if coupled with environmental protections and an equitable formula for sharing revenues between the state and federal governments — would boost domestic energy supplies, while benefiting the Commonwealth's economy."

Read the press statement here.