Whereas 88 countries have adopted or adhered to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (Convention), signed in Washington, D.C., on December 2, 1946, which established the International Whaling Commission (Commission) to provide for the conservation of whale stocks for future generations; Whereas Japan is a great friend and critical national security ally of the United States; Whereas the Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling that went into effect in 1986 to conserve and promote the recovery of whale populations, many of which had been hunted to near extinction by the whaling industry; Whereas the Convention includes a scientific research exemption to the commercial whaling moratorium which Japan has used for 30 years, to kill nearly 16,000 whales under the guise of science; Whereas cetacean scientists around the world have consistently concluded that whaling conducted for scientific research purposes is unnecessary as non-lethal research alternatives exist; Whereas Japan has been certified four times under section 8 of the Fisherman’s Protection Act of 1967 ( 22 U.S.C. 1978 ), popularly known as the Pelly Amendment, for diminishing the effectiveness of the Commission’s conservation measures; Whereas, Japan launched another whaling program in the southern ocean in December 2015, killing 333 Antarctic minke whales, many of them pregnant females; Whereas Japan recently announced its intention to begin a new 12-year whaling program in the North Pacific; Whereas whales have been killed by nearly every method imaginable, from explosive harpoons and cold harpoons to electric lances and bullets; Whereas no matter what method is used, tremendous suffering can ensue, as death may take from several minutes potentially to hours, especially in the case of animals struck and then lost; Whereas commercial whaling, including scientific whaling and any coastal or community-based whaling, undermines the conservation mandate of the Convention