. . . . Explorers to the New World had discovered a trove of natural resources that represented an opportunity to create untold wealth. For the Spanish Empire, an opportunity to fund the armies that would allow Spain to maintain it's world supremacy.

. . . . Spain devised a plan to plunder the resources of the New World. Armies were deployed across the oceans to enslave the native peoples of the New World. Those opposed were summarily slaughtered. Diseases, as yet unknown in these territories, brought by the conquistadors, wreaked havoc on the native population. Entire societies were wiped out. Their histories obliterated by soldiers and nobility, interested only in plundering the wealth of these new territories.

. . . . Fleets of Spanish Galleons would rendezvous in Havana, Cuba. The assembled booty of gold, silver, emeralds and native art plundered from the New World territories would be maliciously confiscated, then stored aboard the treasure vessels for transport to Seville, Spain. Although heavily armed and well protected from hi sea's attack, there was no protection from the ravages of unforeseen hurricanes.

. . . . Hundreds of these wrecks, and their cargo's lie undetected on the ocean floor awaiting the technology, expertise and dedication of professional salvors to locate and recover the wealth of treasure and artifacts.

. . . . A successful recovery project requires years of research by historians and archaeologists, development of sophisticated electronic detection equipment, thousands of hours of diving, boats, underwater electronic surveys, dozens of people from a variety of professional backgrounds and an incredible amount of money.

. . . . Only a handful of recovery operations have been successful over the hundreds of years that these vessels have been lost and abandoned. The most famous of these wrecks are the Atocha and Santa Margarita, discovered by Mel Fisher in 1985. His sixteen year long search and eventual discovery of these wrecks has been documented by National Geographic, A & E, The History Channel, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and an eclectic array of books, documentaries and museum displays. The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum in Key West houses the worlds largest collection of period artifacts representing this unique period of our maritime heritage, and a world class conservation and preservation facility.

. . . . Government intervention and regulation of shipwreck recovery has always been a major stumbling block. Mel Fisher prevailed in dozens of cases where government attempted to curtail salvage or acquire the shipwreck recoveries as property of the government. These cases established the precedents for recovery under modern maritime law. These same cases helped to establish the archaeological procedures for shipwreck recovery, insuring that proper archaeological guidelines, as well as the environmentally safe procedures that are now employed in recovery operations.

. . . . Almost two decades ago, Spain relinquished all rights to the Atocha and other vessels in the 1622 fleet, essentially recognizing that these vessels had long ago been abandoned and no salvage efforts were contemplated in the future. Additionally, the 1622 fleet was lost in international waters, far beyond the boundaries of Spain's jurisdiction. Recently, in direct conflict with existing law, certain individuals and governmental agencies approached Spain and requested that they intervene in new discoveries within US and state territorial waters. These actions were taken after the Federal District Court in Admiralty had made rulings awarding salvage rights to American citizens. The result of these actions taken by certain agencies of our government was to ask a foreign nation to intervene with the authority of the Federal District Courts and to thwart the rights of American Citizens that had been, up until now, guaranteed by our Constitution.

. . . . The concept of rewarding Spain, or any other country, for the horrific annihilation of human life while robbing and pillaging innocent societies to support their war efforts, defies logic. Has anyone ever suggested that priceless French art works, stolen by the Nazi regime be returned to Germany? It is beyond comprehension to make such a ludicrous suggestion. So why such actions could have been justified in this latest federal salvage award also defies logic. Our government should be here to protect the rights of our citizens, not to thwart those rights and reward foreign powers for their heinous crimes perpetrated centuries ago.