[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DeWine:
  S. 1495. A bill to establish, wherever feasible, guidelines, 
recommendations, and regulations that promote the regulatory acceptance 
of new and revised toxicological tests that protect human and animal 
health and the environment while reducing, refining, or replacing 
animal tests and ensuring human safety and product effectiveness; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


                  The ICCVAM Authorization Act of 1999

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill 
that would authorize the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the 
Validation of Alternative Methods, otherwise known as ``ICCVAM.'' This 
bill would permanently establish ICCVAM, which currently only exists as 
a ``standing'' committee--so, it could be dismantled at any time. This 
bill would make it more permanent, thus giving companies and Federal 
agencies a sense of certainty, and encourage them to make the long term 
research investments that are required to develop alternative animal 
toxicology test methods for ICCVAM to review. This will decrease, and 
may ultimately lead to the end of, the use of animals in testing 
cosmetics, shampoos, detergents, and other products.
  ICCVAM was created pursuant to the 1993 National Institutes of Health 
Revitalization Act's mandate that the National Institute of 
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) recommend new processes for 
Federal agencies' acceptance of alternative toxicology tests using 
animals. ICCVAM is composed of representatives of 13 Federal agencies 
that use animals in toxicology research.
  ICCVAM evaluates and recommends improved testing methods and makes it 
possible for more uniform testing to be adopted across Federal 
agencies. This legislation maintains the current practice of leaving 
the ultimate decision of whether or not to adopt the new test method up 
to each individual Federal agency. For example, a new lab test using a 
skin substitute has been evaluated and accepted by ICCVAM so that 
potentially toxic substances can first be tested on this ``substitute 
skin'' rather than on an animal. The test is a measure of the ability 
of a chemical to burn the skin. If the substance tests positive (i.e., 
burns or irritates the ``substitute skin''), then it could be 
considered to produce skin burns and no animal would be used in further 
testing. If the substance does not irritate the ``artificial skin,'' 
then the substance might then be tested on an animal. Ultimately, 
ICCVAM streamlines the test method validation and approval process by 
evaluating methods of interest to multiple agencies. By having the same 
method in place in multiple agencies, it aids in reducing the need to 
perform multiple animal tests to meet the requirements of various 
federal agencies. This bill and ICCVAM do not apply to regulations 
related to medical research. This bill is supported by the Humane 
Society of the United States, the Doris Day Animal League, Procter & 
Gamble, the American Humane Association, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the 
Gillette Company, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals.
                                 ______