03.13.19

Chairs Grijalva, Neal, Engel Lead Team of House Lawmakers Pushing Trump Officials to Answer Questions, Take Action on New Japanese Whaling Efforts

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.); Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Committee on Ways and Means; and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, sent a letter today with a team of House Democratic lawmakers to four Trump administration officials expressing “alarm and deep concern” about Japan’s recent announcement that it will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in order to resume commercial whaling within its Exclusive Economic Zone.

Today’s letter – addressed to Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer – emphasizes that whaling is not a partisan issue, noting the personal role of President Ronald Reagan in helping end commercial whaling before leaving office. The letter is available at http://bit.ly/2Tyv5zF.

As the authors write, “While Japan ending its illegal, ‘scientific’ whaling program on the high seas near Antarctica and in international waters of the North Pacific is a positive step for whales in those waters, we cannot support Japan’s plans to engage in new, unregulated coastal commercial whaling of vulnerable minke whales.”

In addition to the Committee chairs, signatories include Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who chairs the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife; Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), who chairs the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade; and 18 other House Democrats.

The letter asks each official to respond to a series of questions:

  • Has the administration responded to Japan regarding the announcement of withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling? If so, what is the administration’s position? How has it been conveyed to Japan? If the administration has not responded, does the administration plan to respond? 
  • What are your respective agencies’ assessments of the impact of Japan’s decision(s), on the IWC, whale stocks—including vulnerable coastal populations such as the J-stock minke, and on prospects for international governance, management and marine conservation efforts? 
  • What is the administration’s understanding and position on Japan’s declaration that it plans to undertake commercial whaling in coastal waters within its EEZ outside the authority and oversight of the IWC and its scientific committee?
  • What steps is the administration taking to ensure Japan’s decisions do not trigger an exodus from the ICRW or undermine its ability of the IWC to continue its important management and conservation work? 

It further urges the administration to take a series of proactive measures:

  • Use diplomatic pressure to encourage Japan not to withdraw from the ICRW and ensure that Japan does not engage in any type of commercial whaling, including in the North Pacific, Antarctica, or within its EEZ. 
  • The recently announced bilateral trade discussions between the United States and Japan provide an opportune time for the U.S. to use these discussions as leverage to require an anti-whaling provision within any trade agreement between the two countries.
  • If diplomatic pressure or trade negotiation tactics fail and Japan officially withdraws from the IWC in June, we urge the administration to certify Japan under the Pelly Amendment.3 Under the Pelly Amendment, if the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of State, finds that nationals of a foreign country, directly or indirectly, are engaging in trade or taking which diminishes the effectiveness of any international program for endangered or threatened species, the Secretary making such finding shall certify such fact to the President. The President is then authorized to prohibit the importation of certain products from the offending country for any duration as the President determines appropriate.

Media Contact

Adam Sarvana, Grijalva

(202) 225-6065 or Adam.Sarvana@mail.house.gov

Daniel Rubin, Neal

(202) 225-3625 or Daniel.Rubin@mail.house.gov

Tim Mulvey, Engel

(202) 225-5021 or Tim.Mulvey@mail.house.gov

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