330 



Sadly, this type of legislation, to prohibit or control the capturing 

 or killing of ocean mammals, is necessary if this needless brutality is 

 to be stopped. 



The need is supported by the unfortunate facts; the mterest m 

 Congress is demonstrated by the extremely large number of our col- 

 leagues who have cosponsored the legislation before you today ; and 

 the concern of the American people is evidenced by the tremendous 

 public interest expressed in congressional mail. I urge you to report 

 this legislation favorably. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Thank you Congressman. We shall keep your views 

 in mind when the committee considers this legislation in executive 

 meeting. . . . 



Next, I would like to call on the very able gentleman from Virginia, 

 the Hon. G. William Whitehurst. 



STATEMENT OF HON. G. WILLIAM WHITEHURST, A REP- 

 RESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF VIR- 

 GINIA 



Mr. Whitehurst. Mr. Chairman, the subject of marine mammals 

 and the mass slaughter and cruelty to which they and other wildlife 

 have been subjected has received national attention from the news 

 media during the last few years. The accounts of the methods by which 

 some animals are killed or captured have shocked and angered human- 

 itarians across the world. 



I have introduced two bills dealing with this subject which have 

 been referred to this subcommittee. They are H.R. 7240 and H.K. 6804. 

 The first bill calls for direct action dealing with the killing and cap- 

 ture of these animals, and the second directs the Secretary of the 

 Interior to conduct comprehensive studies of all ocean mammals. 



At this point, Mr. Chairman, I would like to explain why I intro- 

 duce these bills. First, as a conservationist, I am concerned over our 

 disappearing wildlife; and second, as a humanitarian, I am desirous 

 of preventing cruelty to, or suffering of, any living creatures whenever 

 2)ossible, including, of course, animals unable to care for themselves. 



Congress acted out of these same motives in the 91st Congress by 

 passing three pieces of legislation which ultimately became public 

 law. They are Public Law 91-579 the Animal Welfare Act; Public 

 Law 91-544, the Horse Protection Act; and Public Law 91-135, the 

 Endangered Species Act, which was first passed by this committee. All 

 of these laws are major accomplishments in the areas of conservation 

 and humanitarianism. We now have an opiwrtunity to add a fourth 

 to this list, thereby ending some of man's greatest crimes against 

 nature and animals. 



The tragic and dramatic decrease in the world population of our 

 great whales has been brought to the Nation's attention. Blue whales 

 have dropped from 100,000 to the present 1,000 in 50 years; the hump- 

 back decreased from more than 10,000 to just a few thousand; and the 

 sperm whale population has slipped from 600,000 to 250,000 in 25 

 years. In response to these statistics, the Department of the Interior 

 placed the great whales on the endangered species list, and the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce followed this action by moving to eliminate all 

 TT.S. commercial whaling activities. However, steps must be taken 

 not only to put a halt to the vanishing of the whale population but to 

 assure that a similar fate does not await other species of ocean mammals 



