Jared Huffman: “I thank my colleague from southern California for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Chairman, like many people, I did a…”

“I thank my colleague from southern California for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Chairman, like many people, I did a lot of reflecting after I saw the documentary ``Blackfish.'' Specifically, I looked into whether our Federal authorities were using the most updated science-based information in their regulation of marine mammal captivity. I was disappointed to find that our government has done virtually nothing to update these regulations in the last two decades. APHIS, the agency charged with this responsibility, has not updated the Animal Welfare Act regulations since 1995, and these rules should have been updated 10 years ago, when APHIS opened up a rulemaking process. Unfortunately, they dropped the ball, so it is time to try again. As Congressman Schiff mentioned, we recently led a sign-on letter with three dozen of our colleagues to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, demanding action on that issue. In that letter, we urged him to complete the updating of these regulations for captive marine mammals, including publishing the proposed rule and allowing a public comment period, so that we can incorporate the latest science. We have had no response to that letter, so today, we are offering an amendment to provide APHIS with the funding needed to start that process again and ensure that our regulations for captive orcas and other marine mammals are based on modern science. This amendment reminds APHIS that inaction is unacceptable.…”