[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S792-S793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  KEEP THE CURRENT DOLPHIN-SAFE LABEL

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I join with my longtime colleague in 
this endeavor, Senator Boxer, to restate our continuing opposition to 
legislation changing the current dolphin-safe standard. As usual, she 
has explained the issue much better than I could, so my remarks will be 
brief.
  Throughout the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's, hundreds of thousands of 
dolphins were senselessly killed every year because of the use of 
gigantic purse seine fishing nets. Our efforts to require that each 
nation wishing to export tuna to the United States document that it 
possessed a dolphin protection program and a dolphin mortality rate 
comparable to ours largely failed, resulting in unilateral embargoes 
against noncomplying nations.
  The senseless slaughter of dolphin justifiably outraged many 
Americans. Literally tens of thousands of letters, telegrams, and phone 
calls poured into tuna companies' offices and Capitol Hill. The message 
heard was loud and clear: Don't allow this needless massacre to 
continue.
  Then, in 1990, something remarkable happened. American tuna 
companies, environmentalists, and consumers came together and 
revolutionized an entire industry. That April, Starkist, and shortly 
after that Chicken of the Sea, and Bumblebee--which combined sold more 
than 80 percent of the tuna in America--announced voluntary purchasing 
bans against all tuna caught in association with dolphins.
  On the heels of this campaign, then-Congresswoman Boxer and I wrote 
and shepherded into law the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information 
Act--a landmark statute that set one very simple, uniform standard: No 
tuna caught by purse seine net fishing, or by a boat capable of purse 
seine net fishing, can be labeled as dolphin-safe.
  Our labeling law immediately transformed the decades-long 
controversy. Dolphin mortalities caused by both American and foreign 
tuna boats plummeted from more than 52,000 in 1990, to just under 3,000 
in 1995. A tremendous decrease.
  Millions of consumers now purchase tuna with a clear conscience, 
knowing that the deadly purse seine net method was not used.
  Simply put, the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act remains a 
remarkable success story. It does not mandate anything. It does not 
require thousands of bureaucrats. It merely requires accurate, truthful 
labeling.
  From the nutritional information printed on boxes of cereal, to salt 
content listings on low-sodium crackers, honesty in labeling is a well-
established principle of law.
  This does not necessarily mean that all types of a given product must 
conform to the requirements of a particular labeling law. All milk is 
not required to contain 2 percent milkfat, for example. But, if a dairy 
company wishes to label its product as 2 percent milkfat, it must meet 
that standard. In essence that is the concept underlying the current 
dolphin safe standard.
  Unfortunately, legislation (S. 39) introduced recently by Senator 
Stevens and Senator Breaux changes the criteria for the current label, 
thereby eliminating the protection and honesty now provided. While the 
proposed no-mortalities requirement sounds good on its face, it is for 
all practical purposes unworkable and unenforceable. One observer, 
equipped with a pair of

[[Page S793]]

binoculars, can hardly keep accurate watch over the entire contents of 
a 1 to 2 mile long, half-mile wide net, submerged hundreds of feet 
below water.
  I recognize the potential significance and power of the October 1995 
Panama Declaration, and I agree that our unilateral embargoes deserve a 
serious reexamination. In fact, legislation I and Senator Boxer 
introduced during the 104th Congress would have implemented key parts 
of the declaration by repealing the current comparability embargoes and 
opening our market--literally the most lucrative in the world--to all 
tuna caught in compliance with the current dolphin-safe standard.
  But market access issues, questions of whether to allow dolphin-safe 
and other tuna into our market, are separate from the reasoning behind 
the current label.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle and in the administration to lock-in the progress we have made. 
And I commend Senator Boxer for her diligent efforts to protect our 
environment while preserving our principles.

                          ____________________