[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1390 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1390

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States should use its position of global leadership to improve and 
 strengthen whale conservation efforts and to ensure that commercial, 
  scientific, and other lethal whaling does not occur for any purpose 
                   other than aboriginal subsistence.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2010

Mr. Baird submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

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                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States should use its position of global leadership to improve and 
 strengthen whale conservation efforts and to ensure that commercial, 
  scientific, and other lethal whaling does not occur for any purpose 
                   other than aboriginal subsistence.

Whereas whales were killed for commercial purposes for hundreds of years, with 
        some whale stocks hunted to near extinction;
Whereas the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in 
        1946 and created the International Whaling Commission to conserve and 
        manage the great whales;
Whereas the International Whaling Commission periodically amends the Schedule to 
        the Convention, which lists measures that govern the conduct of whaling;
Whereas amendments to the Schedule to the Convention must be based on scientific 
        findings and require a three-quarters majority vote of the Commission;
Whereas the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling had an immediate beneficial 
        impact on whale populations, but over time loopholes in the moratorium 
        have allowed for increased commercial hunting;
Whereas 35,000 whales have been hunted and killed since the moratorium began;
Whereas the divide between the 88 member countries of the International Whaling 
        Commission has prevented compromise, and has allowed for more than 85 
        percent of global whaling to remain unregulated by the international 
        monitoring and control requirements of the International Whaling 
        Commission;
Whereas whales are of great aesthetic and scientific interest to mankind and are 
        a vital part of the marine ecosystem;
Whereas as long-lived and slow-breeding mammals, whales are particularly 
        vulnerable to the long-lasting effects of overexploitation, and many 
        whale stocks have not recovered from such past exploitation;
Whereas whales face an uncertain future due to a variety of threats, including 
        ozone depletion, chemical and noise pollution, marine debris, vessel 
        strikes, entanglement with fishing gear, prey depletion, increasing 
        offshore industrial development, and escalating threats from climate 
        change, including ocean acidification;
Whereas because whales migrate throughout the oceans of the world, international 
        cooperation is required to successfully conserve and protect them; and
Whereas the United States is committed to improving the conservation of whales 
        and ending scientific and commercial whaling: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should use its position of global leadership to 
improve and strengthen whale conservation efforts and to ensure that 
commercial, scientific, and other lethal whaling does not occur for any 
purpose other than aboriginal subsistence.
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