[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF THE POLAR BEAR PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2007

  Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
will close the polar bear loophole and prohibit U.S. citizens from 
bringing sport hunted polar bear trophies from Canada into the United 
States. I call on my colleagues to support the Polar Bear Protection 
Act, which if passed, will help conserve and protect one of the most 
beloved American icon species by discouraging U.S. citizens from 
contributing to their decline through sport hunting.
  The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 established a moratorium on 
the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products, including 
the importation of all sport hunted marine mammals such as seals, 
walruses and polar bears. But in 1994, Congress enacted an exemption to 
this ban and allowed American sport hunters to bring home polar bear 
trophies from Canada for their personal use. There is no other such 
exemption in the Marine Mammal Protection Act. This exemption has had 
the effect of increasing Canadian polar bear deaths by U.S. sport 
hunters.
  In 1994 the polar bears' survival was not known to be at risk. Today, 
we know their future is precarious. Polar bear populations are facing 
threats previously unprecedented in the history in the Arctic. The 
polar bear is dependent on sea ice for survival--it relies on the ice 
for hunting, breeding and rearing its young. Yet as a result of climate 
change, Arctic sea ice is receding at a rate even a non-scientist can 
observe, rapidly enough for polar bears to feel the impacts. An unknown 
number of these magnificent creatures--which can swim at least 50 
miles--have drowned and are starving. Populations are changing their 
distribution, bringing them closer to human villages and exposing them 
to greater risk of negative interactions with people as they 
desperately search for food. Leading scientists project that the Arctic 
may be completely free of sea ice in the summer as early as 2040. This 
has disastrous implications for polar bears.
  In July 2005, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Polar Bear 
Specialist Group (PBSG) released its quadrennial report, which reviewed 
the status of polar bears. Although the world population estimate 
remains at 21,500-25,000, in fact many populations are ``data 
deficient,'' due to the difficulties of studying this species in its 
remote, harsh habitat. At least some populations are declining and more 
may be. The IUCN PBSG concluded that the species should be upgraded 
from ``a species of least concern'' to ``vulnerable,'' based on the 
``likelihood of an overall decline in the size of the total population 
of more than 30 percent within the next 35 to 50 years.'' It further 
concluded that the principal cause of this decline is global warming, 
with pollution an additional negative influence. For the first time, 
they expressed a need for caution when determining hunting quotas.
  The U.S. Department of the Interior has confirmed that warming 
temperatures and the receding of sea ice in the Arctic pose a threat to 
polar bears and has concluded that polar bears could be endangered 
within 45 years. Based on the threats posed to polar bears, the 
Interior Department proposed that polar bears be listed under the 
Endangered Species Act as ``threatened'' on December 27, 2006. As many 
of you know, I actively have supported the listing of polar bears on 
the Endangered Species List. I feel strongly that such a listing is 
vital to the bears' survival. I also feel strongly that sport hunting 
at this time is an additional unnecessary burden that these beleaguered 
bears can ill afford.

  More than half of the world's polar bears are in Canada and most of 
these are in the territory of Nunavut. In 2005, Nunavut increased its 
polar bear hunt quotas by almost 30 percent without scientific basis, 
despite documented declines in some populations and the increased 
threats to polar bears from the effects of climate change. The increase 
was based on anecdotal accounts that more bears were seen near 
villages; however, this increase in sightings likely was the result of 
hungry bears being drawn to village dumps than an actual increase in 
bear numbers. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has 
expressed concerns with this increase in quotas. Indeed, I am concerned 
that the money generated by American trophy hunters in Nunavut was a 
motivating factor in this quota increase.
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also acknowledges that at least 
five polar bear populations, of which four are hunted, have poor and/or 
inadequate information on population statistics. It admits that four 
populations are possibly being over-harvested, posing conservation 
challenges for the bear.
  Some of my colleagues here today may have supported the polar bear 
trophy importation exemption in 1994. I recognize that the landscape 
was different then, when many polar bear populations appeared sound. 
However, circumstances have dramatically changed. Seventeen years ago 
it was inconceivable to think that we could envision a world without 
these magnificent animals. Now, in 2007, we are learning that polar 
bear extinction could become a reality. While long-term action clearly 
is required to address the significant environmental factors negatively 
affecting polar bear survival, immediate action can and must be taken 
to control direct human-caused mortality, including addressing the 
harmful effects of U.S. trophy hunting.
  I hope you all agree that contributing to the mortality of these 
bears from unnecessary sport hunting is no longer justified. We need to 
eliminate the exemption that allows the importation of polar bear 
trophies into the United States. The Polar Bear Protection Act will 
further polar bear conservation at a time when these animals need it 
most. I urge my colleagues to join me by supporting this legislation, 
and I hope that the Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings on 
polar-bear conservation and this bill.

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