[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5852 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5852

To prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great apes, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2008

Mr. Towns (for himself, Mr. Allen, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Braley 
 of Iowa, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Campbell of California, and 
 Mrs. Bono Mack) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees 
on Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great apes, 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 ``Great Ape Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Advances in scientific knowledge reveal that our 
        nearest living relatives, great apes (including chimpanzees, 
        bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons), bear an exceedingly 
        close genetic relationship to humans.
            (2) Great apes are highly intelligent and social animals 
        and research laboratory environments involving invasive 
        research cannot meet their complex social and psychological 
        needs.
            (3) Confinement of great apes for purposes of invasive 
        research causes these intelligent and sentient animals to 
        experience harmful stress and suffering, such as profound 
        depression and withdrawal, self mutilation that can result in 
        physical wounding, hair pulling, rocking, and other traumatized 
        or psychotic behaviors.
            (4) Invasive research performed on great apes, and the 
        breeding of great apes for these purposes, are economic in 
        nature and substantially affect interstate commerce.
            (5) The majority of invasive research and testing conducted 
        on great apes in the United States is for the end purpose of 
        developing drugs, pharmaceuticals, and other products to be 
        sold in the interstate market.
            (6) The total costs associated with great ape research have 
        a direct economic impact on interstate commerce.
            (7) Care in a research laboratory for a single great ape 
        over the lifespan of the great ape of more than 50 years can 
        cost between $300,000 and $500,000, compared to an approximate 
        cost of $275,000 for high quality care in a sanctuary.
            (8) An overwhelming majority of invasive research 
        procedures performed on great apes involve some element of 
        interstate commerce, such that great apes, equipment, and 
        researchers have traveled across state lines.
            (9) The regulation of animals and activities as provided in 
        this Act are necessary to effectively regulate interstate and 
        foreign commerce.
            (10) Australia, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, New 
        Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have banned or severely 
        limited experiments on great apes and several other countries 
        and the European Union are considering similar bans as well.
            (11) The National Research Council (NRC) report entitled 
        ``Chimpanzees in Research and Strategies for their Ethical 
        Care, Management, and Use,'' concluded that--
                    (A) there is a ``moral responsibility'' for the 
                long-term care of chimpanzees used for scientific 
                research;
                    (B) there should be a moratorium on further 
                chimpanzee breeding;
                    (C) euthanasia as a means of general chimpanzee 
                population control is unacceptable; and
                    (D) sanctuaries should be created to house 
                chimpanzees in a manner consistent with high standards 
                of lifetime care, social enrichment, and cognitive 
                development.
            (12) In December 2000, the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, 
        Maintenance, and Protection (CHIMP) Act was signed into law, 
        requiring the Federal Government to provide for permanent 
        ``retirement'' of chimpanzees who are identified ``as no longer 
        being needed in research''.
            (13) In May 2007, the National Institutes of Health's 
        National Center for Research Resources' (NCRR) decided to 
        permanently end funding for the breeding of Government-owned 
        chimpanzees for research.
    (b) Purposes.--The purpose of this Act is to--
            (1) prohibit invasive research and the funding of such 
        research both within and outside of the United States on great 
        apes;
            (2) prohibit the transport of great apes for purposes of 
        invasive research;
            (3) prohibit the breeding of great apes for purposes of 
        invasive research; and
            (4) require the permanent retirement of federally owned 
        great apes.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS.

    (a) Invasive Research Prohibition.--No person shall conduct 
invasive research on a great ape.
    (b) Federal Funding Prohibition.--No Federal funds may be used to 
conduct invasive research on a great ape.
    (c) Transport Prohibition.--No person shall knowingly import, 
export, transport, move, deliver, receive, possess, rent, loan, 
purchase, or sell a great ape for the purpose of conducting invasive 
research on such great ape.
    (d) Breeding Prohibition.--No person shall breed a great ape for 
use in invasive research.
    (e) Exemption.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or 
prevent individualized medical care performed on a great ape by a 
licensed veterinarian for the benefit of the great ape.

SEC. 4. RETIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall provide for the permanent retirement of all 
great apes owned or under the control of the Federal Government that 
have been used for invasive research.
    (b) Exception.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
provide for the euthanizing of a great ape owned or under the control 
of the Federal Government that has been used for invasive research if 
euthanasia is in the best interests of such great ape, as determined by 
an attending veterinarian and endorsed by a second, unaffiliated 
veterinarian.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
     (a) Great Ape.--The term ``great ape'' includes a chimpanzee, 
gorilla, bonobo, orangutan, or gibbon.
    (b) Invasive Research.--The term ``invasive research''--
            (1) means any experimental research that may cause death, 
        bodily injury, pain, distress, fear, injury, or trauma to a 
        great ape, including--
                    (A) the testing of any drug or intentional exposure 
                to a substance that may be detrimental to the health of 
                a great ape;
                    (B) research that involves penetrating or cutting 
                the body or removing body parts, restraining, 
                tranquilizing, or anesthetizing a great ape; or
                    (C) isolation, social deprivation, or other 
                experimental physical manipulations that may be 
                detrimental to the health or psychological well-being 
                of a great ape; and
            (2) does not include--
                    (A) close observation of natural or voluntary 
                behavior of a great ape, provided that the research 
                does not require removal of the great ape from the 
                social group or environment of such great ape or 
                require an anesthetic or sedation event to collect data 
                or record observations; or
                    (B) post-mortem examination of a great ape 
                following the natural death of such great ape.
    (c) Permanent Retirement.--The term ``permanent retirement''--
            (1) means that a great ape is placed in a suitable 
        sanctuary that will provide for the lifetime care of the great 
        ape and such great ape will not be used in further invasive 
        research; and
            (2) does not include euthanasia.
    (d) Person.--The term ``person'' means--
            (1) an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, 
        association, or any other private entity,
            (2) any officer, employee, agent, department, or 
        instrumentality of the Federal Government, a State, 
        municipality, or political subdivision of a State; or
            (3) any other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the 
        United States.
    (e) Suitable Sanctuary.--The term ``suitable sanctuary'' means--
            (1) the system referred to in section 481C(a) of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 287a-3a(a)); or
            (2) a comparable privately funded sanctuary approved by the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on the date that is 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>