[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 92 (Thursday, June 18, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1493-E1494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 18, 2009

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to 
amend the Whaling Convention Act of 1949 (Act) to require that the 
United States Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission 
(IWC) be a Federal employee.
  The Act sets out conditions for the appointment of the U.S. 
Commissioner to the IWC. It provides that the U.S. Commissioner shall 
be appointed by the President on the concurrent recommendations of the 
Secretaries of State and Commerce, and establishes that the 
Commissioner shall serve at the pleasure of the President.
  My legislation would add a requirement that any such individual must 
also be an employee of the Federal Government to ensure that the 
positions of the Administration are represented by the Commissioner. It 
would apply to any individual who is appointed, or reappointed, as U.S. 
Commissioner to the IWC on or after the date of enactment.

[[Page E1494]]

  This amendment would bring the International Whaling Commission into 
line with other international fora, such as the Inter-American Tropical 
Tuna Commission.
  It also would signal a shift in our approach to ending commercial 
whaling in all its forms at the IWC. Under the last Administration the 
U.S. Commissioner sought to negotiate an agreement that would 
legitimize commercial whaling and allow the continuation of so-called 
scientific whaling. This policy direction was very clearly at odds with 
the wishes of the American people, past Administrations, and numerous 
Members of Congress. Further, while we all want to reduce the number of 
whales killed, unfortunately the proposed agreement would not have 
achieved this goal.
  Last year at this time, the House of Representatives passed House 
Concurrent Resolution 350, which, among other things, urged U.S. 
leadership to use all appropriate measures to put an end to all forms 
of commercial whaling around the globe.
  In the first days of the Obama Presidency, I urged him to ensure that 
the Bush Administration's flawed policies and negotiation tactics 
become a thing of the past. Just last month, 34 of my colleagues joined 
me in calling upon the Obama Administration to modernize the IWC and 
bring it in line with other international conservation treaties.
  This bill is the first step in that direction. It is time to set new 
goals for protecting whales with an explicit commitment to the 
accountability and transparency that were lost during the last eight 
years.
  In her public statement issued prior to this year's Intersessional 
Meeting of the IWC, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley 
confirmed that the Obama Administration views the commercial whaling 
moratorium as a necessary conservation measure and believes that lethal 
scientific whaling is unnecessary for modern whale conservation 
management.
  In that spirit, it's time for a new direction for the IWC, with a new 
policy and a new agreement to end commercial and so-called scientific 
whaling. I look forward to working with the Obama Administration, and 
this bill will ensure that the next U.S. Commissioner, who will be 
appointed this year, will be an employee of their Administration, fully 
in step with their new approach and commitment to opposing the 
resumption of commercial whaling.
  As the 61st Annual Meeting of the IWC convenes next week in Madeira, 
Portugal, I again urge the Obama Administration to take the necessary 
steps to repair the damage done in recent years and to reestablish our 
nation's longstanding commitment to protecting whales.
  As a symbol of that new day, I ask my colleagues to support this 
legislation.

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