IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1180 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the policy 
of the United States on wild animals at the Conference of the Parties 
of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2010 
Mr. HASTINGS
of Florida (for himself, Ms. LEE
of California, Mr. 
FALEOMAVAEGA, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard-
ing the policy of the United States on wild animals 
at the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 
Fauna and Flora. 
Whereas the Convention on International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Convention) 
was concluded on March 3, 1973, with the United States 
as an original signatory nation; 
Whereas 175 nations are now party to the Convention; 
Whereas the aim of the Convention is to regulate inter-
national trade in endangered species to ensure that it 
does not threaten their survival; 
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•HRES 1180 IH 
Whereas international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth 
billions of dollars a year and to include hundreds of mil-
lions of live plants and animals and derived products 
such as food, leather, fur, and timber; 
Whereas high levels of exploitation of and trade in wild ani-
mals and plants, together with other factors such as 
habitat loss, are capable of bringing some species close to 
extinction; 
Whereas parties to the Convention have an international obli-
gation and responsibility to protect endangered animals 
and plants worldwide; 
Whereas it has been accepted that adherence to protective 
measures adopted by the parties to the Convention has 
benefited the conservation of animals and plants; 
Whereas the species covered by the Convention are listed in 
3 Appendices, according to the degree of protection they 
need; 
Whereas species listed on Appendix I of the Convention are 
threatened with extinction; 
Whereas international commercial trade in species and prod-
ucts made with species listed on Appendix I is permitted 
only in exceptional circumstances; 
Whereas Appendix II includes species that are not necessarily 
threatened with extinction but that may become so unless 
trade is closely controlled; 
Whereas Appendix III is a list of species included at the re-
quest of a party that already regulates trade in the spe-
cies and that needs the cooperation of other countries to 
prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation; 
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•HRES 1180 IH 
Whereas the parties of the Convention meet every 2 to 3 
years at the Conference of the Parties to review the sta-
tus of species in danger of extinction and to establish 
trade restrictions with respect to endangered species; 
Whereas the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties 
will be held in March 2010; 
Whereas, as sea ice declines, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) 
will not be able to adapt to a terrestrial-based life result-
ing in increased mortality, reduced reproduction, in-
creased human-bear conflicts, and overall drastic decline 
of populations; 
Whereas the United States has proposed to move the polar 
bear from Appendix II to Appendix I; 
Whereas the bobcat (Lynx rufus) is very similar in appear-
ance to and difficultly distinguishable from other imper-
iled species including the Iberian and Eurasian lynx, and 
has been listed on Appendix II since 1977 for that rea-
son; 
Whereas delisting the bobcat may result in more skins on the 
market, poaching incentives, illegal trade, and decline of 
other Lynx populations; 
Whereas the United States has proposed to remove the bob-
cat from Appendix II; 
Whereas the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), great 
hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), smooth hammerhead 
(Sphyrna zygaena), sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus), 
dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus), and whitetip (Carcharhi-
nus longimanus) sharks are been severely depleted with 
declines as high as 99 percent in some areas as a result 
of the high demand for their fins; 
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•HRES 1180 IH 
Whereas the United States and Palau have proposed to in-
clude these sharks in Appendix II; 
Whereas the over-exploitation of spiny dogfishes (Squalus 
acanthias) and porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) due to 
the continued demand for their meat have resulted in se-
vere declines of up to 75 percent in some populations; 
Whereas Sweden and Palau have proposed to include these 
sharks in Appendix II; 
Whereas overfishing, both legal and illegal, increased con-
sumer demand, and inadequate enforcement of infrac-
tions have led to historically low populations of northern 
and Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus); 
Whereas Monaco has proposed to include the bluefin tuna in 
Appendix I; 
Whereas between 1979 and 1989, more than 600,000 African 
elephants (Loxodonta africana) were killed for their 
ivory, cutting the continent’s population in half; 
Whereas the 14th Conference of the Parties of the Conven-
tion on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora permitted 3 years ago a one-time 
sale of stockpiled ivory from Botswana, South Africa, 
Zimbabwe, and Namibia to China and Japan in exchange 
of a 9-year moratorium on any proposals to relax inter-
national trade controls on African elephants; 
Whereas poaching has continued with an estimated 38,000 
elephants killed annually and 23.2 tons of poached ivory 
seized since 2007; and 
Whereas Tanzania and Zambia have introduced proposals to 
downlist their elephant populations from Appendix I to 
Appendix II, while Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, 
Rwanda, and Sierra Leone have proposed to prohibit ele-
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•HRES 1180 IH 
phant downlisting and one-time ivory sale proposals for 
a 20-year period: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that, at the 15th meeting of the Conference 
of the Parties, the United States delegation to the Conven-
tion on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora should— 
(1) continue to support its proposal to move the 
polar bear from Appendix II to Appendix I; 
(2) withdraw its proposal to remove the bobcat 
from Appendix II; 
(3) continue to support its proposals to include 
the scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, 
smooth hammerhead, sandbar, dusky, and whitetip 
sharks in Appendix II; 
(4) support Palau and Sweden’s proposals to 
include the spiny dogfishes and porbeagle sharks in 
Appendix II; 
(5) support Monaco’s proposal to include the 
bluefin tuna in Appendix I; and 
(6) support the protection of African elephants 
by opposing proposals to downlist them from Appen-
dix I to Appendix II as well as one-time ivory sale 
proposals. 
Æ 
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