[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E221-E222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF THE HUMANE RESEARCH AND TESTING ACT OF 2021

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 2021

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Humane 
Research and Testing Act of 2021. The exact number of animals used in 
federally funded medical research is unknown, but estimates range 
widely from 17 to 100 million animals utilized each year. Despite this 
widespread use, animal testing often fails to produce valid results 
predictive of human trials. In particular, more than 30 percent of 
candidate drugs fail human clinical trials because they are found to be 
toxic, despite promising pre-clinical studies on animals. On top of 
this, 65 percent of medications that advance to human trials fail due 
to lack of efficacy even after completing clinical trials on animals.
  Fortunately, there have been important advancements in medical 
research methods over the past several years. Animal testing is 
therefore no longer necessary in the many circumstances where non-
animal alternatives are available. Some of these human-relevant methods 
include synthetic skin, synthetic organs, and various methods of 
chemical toxicity testing that can decrease the number of animals used. 
Recognizing the need to promote alternatives, Congress passed the NIH 
Revitalization Act of 1993, which in part directed the National 
Institutes of Health to outline a plan for reducing the number of 
animals used in research. Unfortunately, little progress has been made 
since the passage of this law, and animals continue to be used 
extensively despite new and improved methods and mounting evidence that 
animal testing can often be

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ineffective. The delayed adoption of these viable alternatives means 
that every year several million animals are needlessly held in 
captivity and oftentimes senselessly harmed by experiments in the 
process.
  To rectify this situation, I am introducing the Humane Research and 
Testing Act of 2021 alongside my esteemed colleague and good friend 
Congressman Vern Buchanan. This legislation establishes the National 
Center for Alternatives to Animals in Research and Testing within the 
NIH. First, the National Center will provide assistance, funding, and 
training to educate scientists in alternatives to the use of animals in 
research. The National Center will also facilitate collaborations that 
provide scientists lacking resources with access to human-relevant 
methods. Second, the National Center will be tasked with tallying the 
number of animals used in federally funded research. Scientists 
receiving federal funding and government agencies that use animals in 
research will be required to submit regular reports to the National 
Center that state the number of animals used in their research 
projects, disaggregated by species, and they will also be required to 
outline a plan for reducing the number of animals they use.
  Madam Speaker, I urge the House to swiftly pass this legislation. The 
establishment of a new center dedicated to encouraging human-relevant 
alternatives to animal testing is needed, so that the NIH can meet its 
goal of reducing the number of animals unnecessarily harmed in research 
every year.

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