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