[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 33 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 33

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy of the United 
    States at the 57th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling 
                              Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 16, 2005

   Ms. Snowe (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
McCain, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Collins, Mr. Biden, Mr. Jeffords, 
 Mr. Dodd, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Reed, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Pryor, Mrs. Boxer, 
   Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Akaka) submitted the following concurrent 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy of the United 
    States at the 57th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling 
                              Commission.

Whereas whales have very low reproductive rates, making many whale populations 
        extremely vulnerable to pressure from commercial whaling;
Whereas whales migrate throughout the world's oceans and international 
        cooperation is required to successfully conserve and protect whale 
        stocks;
Whereas in 1946 a significant number of the nations of the world adopted the 
        International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which 
        established the International Whaling Commission to provide for the 
        proper conservation of whale stocks;
Whereas in 2003 the Commission established a Conservation Committee, open to all 
        members of the Commission, for the purpose of facilitating efficient and 
        effective coordination and development of conservation recommendations 
        and activities, which are fully consistent with the conservation 
        objectives stated in the 1946 Convention;
Whereas the Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982 in 
        order to conserve and promote the recovery of whale stocks, many of 
        which had been hunted to near extinction by the commercial whaling 
        industry;
Whereas the rights of indigenous people to whale for subsistence purposes have 
        been specifically recognized under the 1946 Convention;
Whereas the Commission has designated the Indian Ocean and part of the ocean 
        around Antarctica as whale sanctuaries to further enhance the recovery 
        of whale stocks;
Whereas many nations of the world have designated waters under their 
        jurisdiction as whale sanctuaries where commercial whaling is 
        prohibited, and additional regional whale sanctuaries have been proposed 
        by nations that are members of the Commission;
Whereas two member nations that lodged objections to the Commission's moratorium 
        on commercial whaling when it was adopted continue to hold such 
        objections, a third member nation asserted a reservation to the 
        moratorium on rejoining the Commission, and one member nation is 
        currently conducting commercial whaling operations in spite of the 
        moratorium and the protests of other nations;
Whereas the Commission has adopted several resolutions at recent meetings asking 
        member nations to halt commercial whaling activities conducted under 
        reservation to the moratorium and to refrain from issuing special 
        permits for research involving the killing of whales;
Whereas one member nation of the Commission has taken a reservation to the 
        Commission's Southern Ocean Sanctuary and also continues to conduct 
        unnecessary lethal scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean and in the 
        North Pacific Ocean;
Whereas one member nation has recently begun to conduct unnecessary lethal 
        scientific whaling in the Atlantic;
Whereas whale meat and blubber is being sold commercially from whales killed 
        pursuant to such unnecessary lethal scientific whaling, further 
        undermining the moratorium on commercial whaling;
Whereas the Commission's Scientific Committee has repeatedly expressed serious 
        concerns about the scientific need for such lethal research and 
        recognizes the importance of demonstrating and expanding the use of non-
        lethal scientific research methods;
Whereas more than 8,700 whales have been killed in lethal scientific whaling 
        programs since the adoption of the commercial whaling moratorium and the 
        lethal take of whales under scientific permits has increased both in 
        quantity and species, with species now including minke, Bryde's, sei, 
        and sperm whales, and media reports indicate a new plan may be offered 
        that could expand such whaling to fin and humpback whales;
Whereas engaging in commercial whaling under reservation and lethal scientific 
        whaling undermines the conservation program of the Commission;
Whereas discussions are taking place within the Commission on a Revised 
        Management Scheme (RMS) that would regulate any possible future 
        commercial whaling;
Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial whaling must be 
        taken independently from negotiations and adoption of an RMS;
Whereas any RMS must include or be conditioned on the concurrent adoption of 
        provisions similar to those in other international agreements related to 
        fisheries and marine mammals, including transparent and neutral observer 
        mechanisms, and effective compliance and dispute settlement mechanisms;
Whereas to be effective, if an RMS is adopted, any future commercial whaling 
        must take place pursuant to the RMS, and no reservations allowing 
        commercial whaling outside of the RMS should be permitted; and
Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial whaling must be 
        conditioned on the immediate cessation of lethal scientific whaling: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring) 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) at the 57th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling 
        Commission the United States should--
                    (A) remain firmly opposed to commercial whaling and 
                any linking of adoption of a Revised Management Scheme 
                (RMS) to the lifting of the commercial whaling 
                moratorium;
                    (B) initiate and support efforts to ensure that all 
                activities conducted under reservations to the 
                Commission's moratorium or sanctuaries are ceased;
                    (C) seek to ensure that any RMS includes, or is 
                conditioned on the concurrent adoption of provisions 
                similar to those in other international agreements 
                related to fisheries and marine mammals, including 
                transparent and neutral observer mechanisms, and 
                effective compliance and dispute settlement mechanisms;
                    (D) insist that any future commercial whaling must 
                take place pursuant to the RMS, that no reservations 
                allowing commercial whaling outside of the RMS should 
                be permitted, and that lethal scientific whaling must 
                immediately cease upon the commencement of any 
                commercial whaling;
                    (E) uphold the rights of indigenous people to whale 
                for subsistence purposes, and firmly reject any 
                attempts to compromise such rights or to equate 
                commercial whaling with such rights;
                    (F) initiate or support efforts to end the lethal 
                taking of whales for scientific purposes, seek support 
                for expanding the use of non-lethal research methods, 
                and seek to end the sale of whale meat and blubber from 
                whales killed for unnecessary lethal scientific 
                research;
                    (G) support proposals for the permanent protection 
                of whale populations through the establishment of whale 
                sanctuaries and other zones of protection in which 
                commercial whaling is prohibited;
                    (H) support efforts to expand data collection on 
                whale populations, monitor and reduce whale bycatch and 
                other incidental impacts, and otherwise expand whale 
                conservation efforts;
                    (I) support the adoption of an active program of 
                work by the Conservation Committee to address the full 
                range of threats to whales, and otherwise expand whale 
                conservation efforts; and
                    (J) call upon the Contracting Parties to the 
                Convention to submit to the Commission for discussion 
                within the Conservation Committee national approaches, 
                including laws, regulations and other initiatives, that 
                further the conservation of cetaceans; and
            (2) the United States should make full use of all 
        appropriate diplomatic mechanisms, Federal law, relevant 
        international laws and agreements, and other appropriate 
        mechanisms to implement the goals set forth in paragraph (1).
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