On July 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted, 18 to 12, an amendment to the Agriculture appropriations bill that would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to seek public comment on a proposed rule relating to the treatment of captive marine mammals. Marine mammal welfare is regulated under the 1966 Animal Welfare Act, and some of the current rules date back to the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, USDA began negotiating with the industry on an updated rule that would set minimum standards for the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of such animals. It wasn’t until 2012, however, that…