[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7958 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7958
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Director of the
National Institutes of Health from conducting or funding research that
causes significant pain or distress to a dog or cat, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 11, 2024
Ms. Mace (for herself, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Nehls, Ms. Kaptur, Ms.
Malliotakis, Ms. Titus, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Ms. Norton, and Mr.
Steube) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Director of the
National Institutes of Health from conducting or funding research that
causes significant pain or distress to a dog or cat, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Animal Abuse and Waste
Act'' or the ``PAAW Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The National Institutes of Health (in this section
referred to as ``NIH'') spends taxpayer dollars to conduct and
fund research that causes pain and distress to dogs and cats.
(2) The NIH states that ``animal models often fail to
provide good ways to mimic disease or predict how drugs will
work in humans, resulting in much wasted time and money while
patients wait for therapies''.
(3) The NIH often conducts and funds tests on dogs to
assess the safety of experimental human drugs even though the
Food and Drug Administration has stated, ``The FDA does not
mandate that human drugs be studied in dogs.''.
(4) The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine has repeatedly found research on dogs, cats, and other
animals that is conducted and funded by the NIH and other
agencies to be unnecessary.
(5) Alternative research methodologies and other species
can replace the use of dogs and cats in NIH-conducted and
funded research.
(6) Federal agencies including the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and
Drug Administration have launched initiatives to reduce and
replace testing on dogs and cats, specifically.
(7) Existing reporting mechanisms do not provide adequate
information to Congress and taxpayers about the scale, scope,
and cost of dog and cat use in NIH-conducted and funded
research.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH CAUSING SIGNIFICANT PAIN OR DISTRESS TO
DOGS AND CATS.
(a) In General.--Subpart 6 of part C of title IV of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285f et seq.) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``SEC. 447E. PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH CAUSING SIGNIFICANT PAIN OR
DISTRESS TO DOGS AND CATS.
``(a) In General.--The Director of NIH may not conduct or support
any research that causes significant pain or distress to a dog or cat.
``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `research that causes
significant pain or distress' includes any study classified in pain
category D or E by the Department of Agriculture.''.
(b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) applies
beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 4. REPORTING.
(a) NIH Report on Research Causing Pain or Distress to Dogs and
Cats.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director of
the NIH shall publish on the NIH website, and submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report on the use of dogs
and cats in NIH-conducted and funded biomedical research.
(2) Contents of report.--Each report under paragraph (1)
shall include, for the period covered by the report--
(A) a list of all ongoing or prospective research
projects that cause significant pain or distress to a
dog or cat and are conducted or funded by the NIH;
(B) for each project--
(i) the project title;
(ii) the grant or contract number;
(iii) the research abstract;
(iv) the research location;
(v) the cost to taxpayers during the
previous fiscal year and since inception;
(vi) the number of dogs or cats used;
(vii) the projected start and end dates;
(viii) the Department of Agriculture pain
and distress category; and
(ix) the amount of funds obligated or
estimated to be obligated for each such
project;
(C) an explanation of--
(i) efforts to phase out the use of dogs
and cats in research that is conducted or
funded by the NIH; and
(ii) any barriers to such phase out; and
(D) the number of dogs and cats retired and adopted
from research conducted or funded by the NIH.
(b) GAO Study on NIH Dog and Cat Research and Efforts To Reduce Use
of Dogs and Cats in Testing.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit a report to the Congress that--
(1) reviews and summarizes the use of dogs and cats in
research that is conducted or funded by the NIH;
(2) identifies NIH policies and initiatives aimed at
reducing and replacing the specific use of dogs and cats in
research that causes significant pain or distress and is
conducted or funded by the NIH;
(3) assesses the effectiveness of any NIH policies and
initiatives aimed at reducing and replacing the use of dogs and
cats in NIH-conducted and funded research;
(4) compares NIH efforts to reduce and replace dog and cat
testing to similar efforts at other Federal agencies;
(5) identifies areas where the NIH can improve--
(A) efforts to reduce and replace the use of dogs
and cats in research that is conducted or funded by the
NIH; and
(B) public reporting on progress made;
(6) assesses the effectiveness of any NIH policies and
initiatives aimed at retiring and re-homing dogs and cats no
longer needed in research conducted or funded by the NIH;
(7) makes recommendations for improving--
(A) the effectiveness of efforts to reduce and
replace the use of dogs and cats in research conducted
or funded by the NIH; and
(B) public reporting on progress made; and
(8) includes any other matter the Comptroller General of
the United States determines important to assessing and
improving NIH's efforts to reduce and replace the use of dogs
and cats in federally funded research that causes significant
pain or distress.
(c) Definition.--In this section:
(1) The term ``NIH'' means the National Institutes of
Health.
(2) The term ``research that causes significant pain or
distress'' includes any study classified in pain category D or
E by the Department of Agriculture.
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