[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 20 (Thursday, February 5, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     INTRODUCTION OF THE AWARE ACT

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 5, 2015

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today, along with my colleague and co-
chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, Mike Fitzpatrick, 
I am pleased to introduce the Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research 
Endeavors, or AWARE Act. This bill would ensure that farm animals used 
in agricultural research at federal research facilities are included in 
the definition of ``animal'' under the Animal Welfare Act.
  A January 20, 2015 front page article in the New York Times, ``U.S. 
Research Lab Lets Livestock Suffer in Quest for Profit: Animal Welfare 
at Risk in Experiments for Meat Industry,'' examined horrendous abuses 
at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. In 
the last 30 years, over half a million animals have been housed at the 
center. The center's experiments have included experiments to increase 
the number of twin births in cows and expand the litter size of pigs, 
without consideration of animal health impacts, and trying to breed 
``easy care'' lambs that are born in open fields without human 
assistance--all with horrifying, and often unsuccessful results.
  At least 6,500 animals are known to have starved to death at this 
facility alone. Unknown numbers have died from negligence such as 
easily treatable infections, exposure to bad weather, or attacks by 
predators. In just the last 10 years, this single center has cost 
nearly $200 million with taxpayers footing the bill for this shocking 
abuse of animals.
  Appallingly, these animals are not currently protected under federal 
law. While the Animal Welfare Act ensures that certain minimum 
standards of humane care are required for federal and private research 
facilities, there is an exemption for farm animals ``used or intended 
for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or 
production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or 
fiber''--from those basic protections. As a result, federal facilities 
like the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center don't have to obey the Animal 
Welfare Act.
  This is why we are introducing the AWARE Act, which would close this 
loophole at federal research facilities. It is time that we step up to 
stop this horrible misuse of taxpayer funds. There is no reason that 
USDA agricultural research facilities experimenting on farm animals 
should not be held to the same standard as federal research facilities 
that conduct lifesaving disease research with the same kinds of 
animals.
  This is a small step that this Congress can take quickly to show that 
we respond to animal abuse and that the federal government will lead by 
example.

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