OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Law of the Sea takes center stage

By Carlo Munoz - 06/14/12 06:23 PM ET

The Topline: During a rare Capitol Hill appearance on Thursday, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used the visit to shoot holes into one of the top priorities of the department he used to represent. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rumsfeld slammed the Pentagon's efforts to secure Senate ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. The former Defense chief took particular offense at the treaty's mandate allowing a United Nations body to directly tax American companies.

Rumsfeld's position put him at odds with the current heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, as well as the chiefs of two regional commands and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. DOD argues the treaty will be a vital tool to resolve territorial disputes across the word's oceans before those disputed bubble over into open conflict. But opponents claim the treaty will hamstring Naval operations with needless oversight. In response, Rumsfeld summed up his take on the security side of the debate in typical Rummy fashion, saying: “The U.S. Navy has done quite well without it for the last 200 years.”

New or used doesn’t concern McCain: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) isn’t concerned over the confusion from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s accusation that attack helicopters were being sent from Moscow to Syria, after it was clarified that they were existing helicopters being repaired in Russia. “What’s the difference between them being new and them being sent to Moscow and have the blood washed off them and sent back?” McCain told reporters Tuesday. “I think the Secretary of State might have been more specific that these are refurbished helicopters, but they’re still weapons that are massacring Syrians.” McCain has been among the most vocal senators criticizing the Obama administration for not sending in its own military power to help the opposition in Syria.

Bottom dollar: While the argument rages on whether the United States should get more involved in Syria, its efforts to become less involved in Afghanistan have gotten a little bit easier, according to Sen. Carl Levin. U.S. negotiators have resolved critical cost issues with their Pakistani counterparts regarding vital supply routes running through the country into Afghanistan, Levin told reporters on Thursday. Pakistan has backed off its demands to significantly increase the per-truck cost to the United States and its allies to move supplies through the country, he said. Pakistani officials were reportedly demanding U.S. and coalition forces pay as much as $5,000 per truck to move supplies and equipment in and out of Afghanistan. DOD would not confirm Levin's claims, but did tell The Hill "most of the technical arrangements have been worked out" between the two sides.

Close to the vest: The ongoing mystery over why the Air Force's F-22 Raptor was more hazardous to those flying the jet than those flying against it took another strange turn on Thursday. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) released data showing that the plane has had 10 times more incidents of oxygen deprivation than any other Air Force aircraft. The F-22 was grounded last year as the service tried to pinpoint why pilots and ground crews were experiencing high rates of oxygen depletion. A "60 Minutes" segment brought the issue into the national spotlight. Recent reports claim that F-22 pressure vests worn by pilots might have contributed to the oxygen issue, but both lawmakers noted the vests were only one of many factors that have led to the problems aboard the Raptor.

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