WASHINGTON, March 13 -- Sen. John Kennedy issued the following press release:

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the Diego Garcia Treaty Oversight Act, which would require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate for any changes to the 1966 treaty between the United States and United Kingdom concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In effect, Kennedy's bill would force the United Kingdom to secure Senate approval before ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including an island home to U.S.-U.K. Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, to Mauritius. It would also block the use of federal funds to modify the treaty without such approval.

"When two countries shake hands on a treaty,...