[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 17, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H10007-H10011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ICCVAM AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2000
Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4281) 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, as
amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4281
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 ``ICCVAM Authorization Act of
2000''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Alternative test method.--The term ``alternative test
method'' means a test method that--
(A) includes any new or revised test method; and
(B)(i) reduces the number of animals required;
(ii) refines procedures to lessen or eliminate pain or
distress to animals, or enhances animal well-being; or
(iii) replaces animals with non-animal systems or 1 animal
species with a phylogenetically lower animal species, such as
replacing a mammal with an invertebrate.
(2) ICCVAM test recommendation.--The term ``ICCVAM test
recommendation'' means a summary report prepared by the
ICCVAM characterizing the results of a scientific expert peer
review of a test method.
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON THE VALIDATION
OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS.
(a) In General.--With respect to the interagency
coordinating committee that is known as the Interagency
Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative
Methods (referred to in this Act as ``ICCVAM'') and that was
established by the Director of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences for purposes of section 463A(b)
of the Public Health Service Act, the Director of the
Institute shall designate such committee as a permanent
interagency coordinating committee of the Institute under the
National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the
Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods. This Act may
not be construed as affecting the authorities of such
Director regarding ICCVAM that were in effect on the day
before the date of the enactment of this Act, except to the
extent inconsistent with this Act.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of the ICCVAM shall be to--
(1) increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal
agency test method review;
(2) eliminate unnecessary duplicative efforts and share
experiences between Federal regulatory agencies;
(3) optimize utilization of scientific expertise outside
the Federal Government;
(4) ensure that new and revised test methods are validated
to meet the needs of Federal agencies; and
(5) reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals in
testing, where feasible.
(c) Composition.--The ICCVAM shall be composed of the heads
of the following Federal agencies (or their designees):
(1) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
(2) Consumer Product Safety Commission.
(3) Department of Agriculture.
(4) Department of Defense.
(5) Department of Energy.
(6) Department of the Interior.
(7) Department of Transportation.
(8) Environmental Protection Agency.
(9) Food and Drug Administration.
(10) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
(11) National Institutes of Health.
(12) National Cancer Institute.
(13) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
(14) National Library of Medicine.
(15) Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(16) Any other agency that develops, or employs tests or
test data using animals, or regulates on the basis of the use
of animals in toxicity testing.
[[Page H10008]]
(d) Scientific Advisory Committee.--
(1) Establishment.--The Director of the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences shall establish a Scientific
Advisory Committee (referred to in this Act as the ``SAC'')
to advise ICCVAM and the National Toxicology Program
Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative
Toxicological Methods regarding ICCVAM activities. The
activities of the SAC shall be subject to provisions of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act.
(2) Membership.--
(A) In general.--The SAC shall be composed of the following
voting members:
(i) At least 1 knowledgeable representative having a
history of expertise, development, or evaluation of new or
revised or alternative test methods from each of--
(I) the personal care, pharmaceutical, industrial
chemicals, or agriculture industry;
(II) any other industry that is regulated by the Federal
agencies specified in subsection (c); and
(III) a national animal protection organization established
under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(ii) Representatives (selected by the Director of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) from an
academic institution, a State government agency, an
international regulatory body, or any corporation developing
or marketing new or revised or alternative test
methodologies, including contract laboratories.
(B) Nonvoting ex officio members.--The membership of the
SAC shall, in addition to voting members under subparagraph
(A), include as nonvoting ex officio members the agency heads
specified in subsection (c) (or their designees).
(e) Duties.--The ICCVAM shall, consistent with the purposes
described in subsection (b), carry out the following
functions:
(1) Review and evaluate new or revised or alternative test
methods, including batteries of tests and test screens, that
may be acceptable for specific regulatory uses, including the
coordination of technical reviews of proposed new or revised
or alternative test methods of interagency interest.
(2) Facilitate appropriate interagency and international
harmonization of acute or chronic toxicological test
protocols that encourage the reduction, refinement, or
replacement of animal test methods.
(3) Facilitate and provide guidance on the development of
validation criteria, validation studies and processes for new
or revised or alternative test methods and help facilitate
the acceptance of such scientifically valid test methods and
awareness of accepted test methods by Federal agencies and
other stakeholders.
(4) Submit ICCVAM test recommendations for the test method
reviewed by the ICCVAM, through expeditious transmittal by
the Secretary of Health and Human Services (or the designee
of the Secretary), to each appropriate Federal agency, along
with the identification of specific agency guidelines,
recommendations, or regulations for a test method, including
batteries of tests and test screens, for chemicals or class
of chemicals within a regulatory framework that may be
appropriate for scientific improvement, while seeking to
reduce, refine, or replace animal test methods.
(5) Consider for review and evaluation, petitions received
from the public that--
(A) identify a specific regulation, recommendation, or
guideline regarding a regulatory mandate; and
(B) recommend new or revised or alternative test methods
and provide valid scientific evidence of the potential of the
test method.
(6) Make available to the public final ICCVAM test
recommendations to appropriate Federal agencies and the
responses from the agencies regarding such recommendations.
(7) Prepare reports to be made available to the public on
its progress under this Act. The first report shall be
completed not later than 12 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and subsequent reports shall be
completed biennially thereafter.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL AGENCY ACTION.
(a) Identification of Tests.--With respect to each Federal
agency carrying out a program that requires or recommends
acute or chronic toxicological testing, such agency shall,
not later than 180 days after receiving an ICCVAM test
recommendation, identify and forward to the ICCVAM any
relevant test method specified in a regulation or industry-
wide guideline which specifically, or in practice requires,
recommends, or encourages the use of an animal acute or
chronic toxicological test method for which the ICCVAM test
recommendation may be added or substituted.
(b) Alternatives.--Each Federal agency carrying out a
program described in subsection (a) shall promote and
encourage the development and use of alternatives to animal
test methods (including batteries of tests and test screens),
where appropriate, for the purpose of complying with Federal
statutes, regulations, guidelines, or recommendations (in
each instance, and for each chemical class) if such test
methods are found to be effective for generating data, in an
amount and of a scientific value that is at least equivalent
to the data generated from existing tests, for hazard
identification, dose-response assessment, or risk assessment
purposes.
(c) Test Method Validation.--Each Federal agency carrying
out a program described in subsection (a) shall ensure that
any new or revised acute or chronic toxicity test method,
including animal test methods and alternatives, is determined
to be valid for its proposed use prior to requiring,
recommending, or encouraging the application of such test
method.
(d) Review.--Not later than 180 days after receipt of an
ICCVAM test recommendation, a Federal agency carrying out a
program described in subsection (a) shall review such
recommendation and notify the ICCVAM in writing of its
findings.
(e) Recommendation Adoption.--Each Federal agency carrying
out a program described in subsection (a), or its specific
regulatory unit or units, shall adopt the ICCVAM test
recommendation unless such Federal agency determines that--
(1) the ICCVAM test recommendation is not adequate in terms
of biological relevance for the regulatory goal authorized by
that agency, or mandated by Congress;
(2) the ICCVAM test recommendation does not generate data,
in an amount and of a scientific value that is at least
equivalent to the data generated prior to such
recommendation, for the appropriate hazard identification,
dose-response assessment, or risk assessment purposes as the
current test method recommended or required by that agency;
(3) the agency does not employ, recommend, or require
testing for that class of chemical or for the recommended
test endpoint; or
(4) the ICCVAM test recommendation is unacceptable for
satisfactorily fulfilling the test needs for that particular
agency and its respective congressional mandate.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION.
(a) Application.--This Act shall not apply to research,
including research performed using biotechnology techniques,
or research related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment,
control, or prevention of physical or mental diseases or
impairments of humans or animals.
(b) Use of Test Methods.--Nothing in this Act shall prevent
a Federal agency from retaining final authority for
incorporating the test methods recommended by the ICCVAM in
the manner determined to be appropriate by such Federal
agency or regulatory body.
(c) Limitation.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
require a manufacturer that is currently not required to
perform animal testing to perform such tests. Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to require a manufacturer to perform
redundant endpoint specific testing.
(d) Submission of Tests and Data.--Nothing in this Act
precludes a party from submitting a test method or scientific
data directly to a Federal agency for use in a regulatory
program.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Bliley) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley).
{time} 1715
General Leave
Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 4281, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4281, the ICCVAM
Authorization Act that will provide statutory authority for an ad hoc
interagency coordinating committee that was set up over at the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 1994.
On October 5, 2000, the full Committee on Commerce considered H.R.
4281. At that time, the committee negotiated with the committee's
ranking member and reached agreement on a substitute, and today I am
pleased that we will be able to call up H.R. 4281 as reported from the
Committee on Commerce with my full support.
This bill is a win-win for business and animal protection
organizations. The legislation provides product makers, who must
adequately test their products for safety before bringing them to
market, with a one-stop forum to ensure that new, revised and
alternative test methods are scientifically valid and acceptable for
regulatory use before they spend huge amounts of money to conduct the
extensive tests necessary for government approval.
For animal rights groups, the legislation offers an improved forum in
which alternatives to animal tests that may reduce, refine, or replace
the use of animals can be scientifically validated for regulatory use.
H.R. 4281 does not create a new Federal bureaucracy. Rather, it
improves upon an existing interagency committee that is already in
operation, and more clearly identifies its responsibilities and duties.
The legislation further instructs Federal programs that require
relevant product testing to ensure that the accepted test methods
employ sound, objective and peer reviewed science. At the same time,
the legislation does not block any party from taking any new or
existing test method, test or test data directly to any agency, nor
does it prevent any agency from considering
[[Page H10009]]
any test method or test data that meets its statutory objectives.
That is why so many business groups and animal rights groups alike
have written to Congress in support of this legislation. These include
Procter and Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, The Gillette Company, the
American Chemistry Council, the Chemical Specialties Manufacturers
Association, the Soap and Detergent Association, the American Crop
Protection Association, the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers
Association, as well as the Doris Day Animal League, the American
Humane Society, the Humane Society of the United States, and the
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
I am pleased to join 32 Republican and 41 Democrat cosponsors in
support of this legislation. I congratulate the gentleman from
California (Mr. Calvert) for his efforts to bring this legislation
forward, and I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the
Committee's ranking member, for his efforts to work with us to achieve
bipartisan agreement on the bill under consideration today.
I urge passage of H.R. 4281.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4281, the ICCVAM Authorization
Act of 2000. ICCVAM, or the Interagency Coordinating Committee on
Validation of Alternative Methods, was established by the director of
the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 1994 in
response to a directive in the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993
instructing the National Institute to establish criteria and processes
for validation and regulatory acceptance of toxicological test methods.
H.R. 4281, which was introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr.
Calvert) with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) and the gentlewoman
from California (Mrs. Capps), has broad bipartisan support, as well as
endorsements from the administration, the animal rights community and
the stakeholder industries. It provides statute authority for ICCVAM to
continue its work of establishing, as feasible, guidelines and
recommendations that promote the regulatory acceptance of
scientifically valid new or revised or alternative test methods. It was
reported unanimously by the Committee on Commerce.
H.R. 4281 clearly delineates the purposes, duties, and
responsibilities of ICCVAM. It also establishes how ICCVAM's scientific
recommendations will be transmitted to Federal agencies involved in
toxicology testing and how agencies are expected to respond.
These steps recognize the important role of ICCVAM in maintaining an
open, collaborative, scientific review process for validating new and
existing testing methods and perpetuating the promotion of alternatives
to the use of animals in the critically important field of toxicology
testing.
I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the
ranking member, for his leadership on this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the prime cosponsor of this
bill.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Bliley), chairman of the committee, for helping us bring this bill
as rapidly as possible to the floor; and certainly it has been a
pleasure working with him these last 8 years. I wish him well in his
retirement.
I also want to say that this bill has been carefully crafted through
the tireless work and effort of many individuals. This bill, H.R. 4281,
the ICCVAM Authorization Act, enjoys support from an overwhelming
coalition of companies and groups that span the political spectrum.
We have animal groups, chemical and pharmaceutical companies,
industry associations, and the current administration among the bill's
supporters. We have Republicans, Democrats that agree on the bill. Many
people have worked and worked to ensure that this bill would receive a
consensus agreement, and I am proud to say that we have a document here
that has achieved that goal.
This legislation is a testament to what can be done when different
groups come together for an important cause. This legislation reaches
an important outcome, reducing the number of needless animal deaths and
so much more. The legislation will save the American taxpayers money by
ensuring a streamline approach to approval of toxicological test
methods. It will save chemical and pharmaceutical companies thousands
of dollars by eliminating duplicative, time-consuming and costly test
method validation at several government agencies. Everyone wins with
this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by thanking the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Bliley), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, once
again; the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the ranking member;
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chair of the
Subcommittee on Health; and of course the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lantos), who has also worked with me very hard from the beginning
to make sure this bill becomes a reality today.
I encourage all of my colleagues to join in this effort and
overwhelmingly pass H.R. 4281.
Mr. LARSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4281, the
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative
Methods (ICCVAM) Authorization Act of 2000, which will create statutory
authority for the ICCVAM, a consortium of 17 federal departments and
agencies cooperating on the validation of new test methods.
In recent years product manufacturers have been attempting to move
away from traditional animal tests in order to respond to public
concerns about animal welfare, but have been hampered by Federal
regulations slowing down the validation of alternative methods.
Strengthening the ICCVAM will create a vital framework to streamline
government/industry partnerships in developing and regulating new test
methods.
This legislation has three objectives. First, it will establish a
centralize clearinghouse for test method information. Second, it will
expedite the approval of new technology and test methods with higher
accuracy than animal-based test methods. Finally, it will reduce the
number of test animals used in laboratories when reliable alternatives
are available. This bipartisan bill is supported by a coalition of
industry and animal protection organizations.
As a member of the Science Subcommittee on Basic Research I support
this bill's effort to coordinate the validation and national
harmonization of toxicological test methods. In 1999 the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) maintained its position that it will continue
to do everything it can to limit the amount of animal tests and the
number of animals used in the tests. Also, the National Institute of
Environmental Health and Sciences, the National Toxicology Program, and
the EPA have committed as much as $5 million over the next two years to
develop and validate non-animal test methods.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to increase testing
efficiency and reduce redundant animal testing by coordinating
interagency test validation efforts. The ICCVAM will not only conserve
research funding but also drastically reduce the number of animals
needlessly killed by scientific testing. As someone who received a 100%
rating on my voting record from the Humane Society of the United
States, I believe it is vital that Congress act on these issues and
pass this legislation.
Therefore, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the ICCVAM
Authorization Act.
Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4281, The
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative
Methods Authorization Act of 2000, known as ICCVAM, of which I am an
original co-sponsor.
Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation seeks to insure that the
lives of millions of test animals are not taken needlessly. This
legislation will reduce testing costs and reduce liability in product
safety testing while increasing the accuracy of results and improving
research data. This is accomplished by creating statutory authority for
the existing federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the
Validation of Alternative Methods to establish guidelines for the
acceptance of new and revised product safety tests.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of
Alternative Methods, ICCVAM, is a consortium of several federal
departments and agencies cooperating on the validation of new safety
methods. The committee reviews alternative test methods and recommends
to the various agencies where the tests could be used. This legislation
simply grants ICCVAM statutory authority while requiring no additional
budget expenditures.
[[Page H10010]]
The commonsense approach to animal testing in this measure has
allowed it to gain support from a unique alliance of animal protection
groups as well as consumer product industry giants. I am pleased that
this legislation is being considered by the House today and I urge my
colleagues to support this measure.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to present legislation that has been
carefully crafted through the tireless work and effort of many
individuals. This bill, H.R. 4281, the ICCVAM Authorization Act, enjoys
support from an overwhelming coalition of companies and groups that
span the political spectrum.
We have animal rights groups, chemical and pharmaceutical companies,
industry associations and the current administration among the bill's
supporters. We even have Republican and Democrats that agree on this
bill. Many people have worked and worked to ensure that this bill would
receive a consensus agreement, and I am proud to say, that we have a
document here that has achieved this goal.
This legislation is a testament to what can be done when different
groups come together for an important cause. This legislation reaches
an important outcome; reducing the number of needless animal deaths and
so much more. This legislation will save the American taxpayers money
by ensuring a streamlined approach to the approval of toxicological
test methods. It will save chemical and pharmaceutical companies
millions of dollars by eliminating duplicative, time-consuming and
costly test method validation at several government agencies. Everyone
wins with this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by thanking the Chairman of the
Commerce Committee, Mr. Bliley, the Ranking Member Mr. Dingell, Health
Subcommittee Chair Mr. Bilirakis and of course Mr. Lantos who have
worked with me from the beginning to ensure this bill's passage.
I encourage all of my colleagues to join in this effort and
overwhelmingly pass H.R. 4281.
Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H.R. 4281, the
ICCVAM Authorization Act, I rise in strong support of its passage
today.
I commend my colleague from California, Ken Calvert, for his work on
this important issue and for bringing the bill to the floor. I would
also like to recognize the dedication and tireless work of my good
friend and colleague, Tom Lantos, who introduced the bill in the 105th
Congress and has been a champion of this issue.
H.R. 4281 permanently establishes ICCVAM under the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences. Under the legislation, federal
agencies would be required to review and identify all regulations that
require animal use for toxicity tests.
The purposes of ICCVAM are to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of federal agency test method review, eliminate
unnecessary duplicative efforts and share expertise between federal
regulatory agencies, optimize the utilization of scientific expertise
outside the federal government, ensure that new and revised test
methods are validated to meet the needs of federal agencies, and
reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals in testing, where
feasible.
The bill takes important steps to encourage the use of alternative
testing procedures that are of equal value as toxicity indicators and
less costly--both in terms of dollars and animal lives.
Alternative tests such as the Eytex system, cloned human cells and
computer models have been developed, and more alternative tests are
expected to be available in the future. Unfortunately, the federal
government has stymied the use and development of these technologically
advanced procedures by failing to update its regulations and guidelines
for testing. Under current procedures, manufacturers find it is easier
to have new products approved by relying on outdated testing than
through the use of new alternatives.
As a Co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus, I urge
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this taxpayer and
animal friendly piece of legislation.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4281, the ICCVAM
Authorization Act of 2000. This is a good bill, which enjoys broad
bipartisan support, as well as endorsements from the Administration,
the animal rights community, and industry.
H.R. 4281 provides statutory authority for the permanent continuation
of the 6-year-old ICCVAM, or Interagency Coordinating Committee on the
Validation of Alternative Methods. ICCVAM establishes guidelines and
recommendations that promote regulatory acceptance of new and
alternative toxicological test methods for use by Federal agencies and
departments. ICCVAM's history goes back to the NIH Revitalization Act
of 1993, when the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS) was directed to establish and publish criteria and processes
for validation and regulatory acceptance of toxicological test methods.
It has continued to function under the National Toxicology Program
Interagency Center for Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods,
within NIEHS ever since. All relevant Federal regulatory and scientific
agencies are currently represented on ICCVAM, which receives advice
from a scientific advisory committee.
H.R. 4281 emphasizes ICCVAM's priority to review and recommend
alternative test methods that will reduce, refine or replace the use of
animals in toxicology testing, where appropriate. As stated by the
Administration, ``the use of these alternative test methods will be
contingent upon their effectiveness in generating data in the amount
and of a scientific value that is at least equivalent to the data
generated by the existing text methods they are meant to replace.''
ICCVAM provides a forum for this scientific review, and derives its
strength by facilitating dialogue across scientific disciplines,
Federal agencies and with the public.
The composition and principle duties of ICCVAM and the Scientific
Advisory Committee are delineated by this legislation. The legislation
also establishes the relationship between ICCVAM and the Federal
agencies that are required to conduct toxicological testing. The
Administration has called ICCVAM a success and pledges to provide the
necessary resources to sustain it.
I support this legislation, and trust that my colleagues will do
likewise.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I welcome House consideration of H.R. 4281,
the ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000, and I want to take this
opportunity to commend my colleague from California, Mr. Calvert, for
his work on this important issue and for bringing this bill to the
floor.
Mr. Speaker, on March 27, 1996, I introduced H.R. 3173, the Consumer
Products Safe Testing Act. This legislation was introduced to promote
more humane business practices, increase the efficiency of the Federal
Government, encourage scientific innovation and, most importantly,
ensure continued consumer safety while eliminating unnecessary and
inhumane product safety testing on animals. Today, H.R. 4281, the
ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000--legislation that is the successor to
the bill I originally introduced in early 1996--represents the
culmination of efforts which began over 5 years ago.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4281 is a non-partisan, non-controversial bill that
emphasizes the protection of both human health and animal welfare by
facilitating the development, acceptance and implementation of non-
animal product safety tests.
This bill comes to the floor with an impressive marriage of diverse
interests working together to support it. Distinguished Members from
both political parties, industry leaders and animal welfare
organizations have joined forces to produce a common-sense piece of
legislation that safeguards both human and animal well-being. I am
honored and delighted that H.R. 4281 is supported by the Procter &
Gamble Company, the Gillette Company, the Colgate-Palmolive Company,
the American Chemistry Council, the American Humane Association, the
Humane Society of the United States, the Doris Day Animal League, and
millions of Americans who have demanded safe and reliable alternatives
to product safety testing on animals.
Mr. Speaker, for over fifty years, federal regulators have conducted
product safety tests on animals. In the last decade, however,
biotechnology companies have researched, developed, and manufactured
alternative testing procedures that have proved to be just as safe,
reliable, and in many cases, much more cost effective. Yet, these
innovative technologies have never had an established protocol for
receiving approval by federal agencies. In addition, industries
desiring to implement alternative testing methods have endured a
frustrating and confusing federal process for alternative test method
review and approval, despite the fact that many industries have
committed themselves to ensuring human safety while eliminating
unnecessary, inhumane animal test methods.
Now, for the first time, this legislation which we are considering
here on the floor of the House today will enable industries to cut
through bureaucratic red-tape and speed the implementation of safe and
reliable non-animal test methods. While functioning solely on an ad-hoc
basis, the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the Validation of
Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) has established sound criteria for the
validation and acceptance of alternative methods to product safety
testing on animals and it will require federal agencies to consider the
ICCVAM's recommendations on alternative test methods. More importantly,
H.R. 4281 eliminates the incentive for industries to prefer status quo
animal tests by giving the ICCVAM the authority to make an otherwise
fragmented regulatory process coherent, cost effective, and more
readily accessible.
Mr. Speaker, the adoption of H.R. 4281 will demonstrate a commitment
to increasing the
[[Page H10011]]
health and environmental safety of all Americans by simplifying the
process by which industries implement more technologically advanced
methods of research into their product safety testing protocols. We
must ensure that as we enter the 21st century the Federal Government is
working efficiently to incorporate scientific progress into product
safety tests and not solely relying on antiquated and inhumane animal
tests to safeguard human health. With this in mind, Mr. Speaker, I
strongly urge my colleagues to join me by supporting H.R. 4281.
Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4281, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read:
``A bill to establish, wherever feasible, guidelines,
recommendations, and regulations that promote the regulatory
acceptance of new or revised scientifically valid
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.''
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________