[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S8615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMETNS

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                 INTERNATIONAL DOLPHIN CONSERVATION ACT

 Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I would like to 
comment briefly on yesterday's unanimous passage of S. 39, the 
International Dolphin Conservation Act after the Senate had adopted a 
compromise amendment.
  I joined with my colleagues in supporting this effort to bridge the 
gap between the two sides because I believe that it was the result of 
sincere movement by both sides, a true compromise. As originally 
written, S. 39 would have permitted tuna caught by chasing dolphins and 
encircling them in purse-seine nets to be labeled dolphin-safe. The 
compromise amendment adopted by the Senate yesterday preserves the 
existing dolphin-safe label until the Secretary of Commerce has the 
opportunity to review a study of the effects of encirclement on 
endangered dolphin populations. This means that the label change will 
take place no sooner than March 1997.
  I must admit that the need for such a study is not entirely clear to 
me. I think that any method of fishing for tuna that involves chasing 
schools of dolphins through miles of ocean and encircling them--in nets 
a mile wide and as deep as a football field is long--cannot honestly be 
described as safe for dolphins. I only hope that the studies that will 
be conducted will be anchored in common sense. If they are, I am 
confident that the label change will not take place.
  Unfortunately, common sense may take a back seat to pressures from 
foreign governments, the same pressures that gave rise to S. 39 in the 
first place. It's no secret that the countries that permit dolphin-
deadly fishing would like to have access to the American tuna market--
the world's largest--even if it means that our consumer standards have 
to be gutted in the process. I regret that too many in Congress and in 
the administration have failed to resist this pressure and defend our 
country's laws.
  In that connection, I would like to associate myself with the remarks 
of Senator Boxer, a valued colleague but one with whom I do not 
typically find myself in agreement. Before the Senate voted on this 
issue, Senator Boxer said: ``American laws should be made by Americans 
* * * American laws should not be made by other countries.'' Senator 
Boxer has it exactly right. This issue has aroused the passionate 
interest of humane groups others concerned with dolphin welfare, but it 
should also be of concern to anyone concerned about the integrity of 
our governing institutions and the preservation of the sovereign right 
of the American people to make their laws through those institutions. I 
trust that we will have the opportunity to revisit that question.
  Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to say that Senator 
Boxer has done a tremendous job of standing up for what is right on 
this issue and I salute her efforts and those of the others who brought 
the sponsors of S. 39 to the table. Without Senator Boxer's steadfast 
efforts, this compromise and the opportunity to preserve the dolphin-
safe label it provides would not have been possible. 




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