Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague from Michigan, Senator Peters, in introducing the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experiments, and Research Act, known as the AFTER Act, to promote the adoption or retirement of animals used for research at Federal agencies. I would also like to thank Senators Shaheen and McSally who are original cosponsors of this legislation.

In fiscal year 2018, the Federal government experimented on approximately 50,000 animals for research purposes. The experiments occurred across twelve different Federal agencies and the animals used were mainly cats, dogs, monkeys, and rabbits. While tracking these animals following experimentation is challenging, once animals are no longer needed for research, they are often killed, since many agencies lack formal retirement or adoption policies. With that said, recent studies indicate that research animals who are adopted often thrive in their new environments.

In 2013, led by Senators Harkin, Alexander, Cantwell and myself, the Senate passed the CHIMP Act, which allowed for the retirement of hundreds of primates that were formerly being used in National Institute of Health (NIH) experiments. In addition, the Departments of Defense, Veteran Affairs, and NIH recently enacted successful animal retirement policies. While I am encouraged by the Senate's past work on primates and the recent policies developed by a few agencies; there are still many Federal agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency that lack formal policies for animals that have been used in experiments.

The AFTER Act builds on successful policies at DOD, VA, and NIH by directing all Federal agencies to promulgate regulations that would facilitate the retirement of laboratory animals. The bill provides flexibility for each agency to devise its own policy, with the goal of ensuring that such animals, whenever possible, are retired and not killed. Additionally, the AFTER Act requires animals to be evaluated by a licensed veterinarian and pronounced both mentally and physically healthy before leaving an agency. This will help ensure a smooth transition to a new environment.

Our legislation also encourages Federal agencies to work with non- profit organizations to ensure retired animals are distributid to sanctuaries and shelters across the Nation, not just those closest to the research facility. This would allow a State like Maine, which does not have Federal research labs that use animals, to play a role in retiring these animals and providing homes for them.

Mr. President, there is no reason animals that are suitable for adoption or retirement should be killed by our Federal government. The AFTER Act would provide the necessary direction Federal agencies need in order to move forward with developing retirement policies. I urge all of my colleagues to join in support of this important bipartisan legislation, the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experiments, and Research Act.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source