[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9634 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9634
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the National
Institutes of Health from conducting or supporting research that causes
significant pain or distress to a nonhuman primate, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2024
Ms. Mace (for herself and Ms. Malliotakis) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the National
Institutes of Health from conducting or supporting research that causes
significant pain or distress to a nonhuman primate, 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 ``Painful Research and Investigations
on Monkeys Abused in Taxpayer-funded Experiments Stops Act of 2024'' or
the ``PRIMATES Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON NIH RESEARCH CAUSING SIGNIFICANT PAIN OR
DISTRESS TO NONHUMAN PRIMATES.
(a) In General.--Part H of title IV of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 289 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 495
(42 U.S.C. 289d) the following:
``SEC. 495A. PROHIBITION ON NIH RESEARCH CAUSING SIGNIFICANT PAIN OR
DISTRESS TO NONHUMAN PRIMATES.
``(a) In General.--The National Institutes of Health may not--
``(1) conduct or support any research that causes
significant pain or distress to a nonhuman primate; or
``(2) transfer any nonhuman primate owned by the National
Institutes of Health to any intramural or extramural laboratory
for use in research that causes significant pain or distress.
``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `research that causes
significant pain or distress' includes any study classified in pain
category D or E by the Department of Agriculture.''.
(b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) applies
beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. NIH REPORT ON RESEARCH CAUSING PAIN OR DISTRESS TO NONHUMAN
PRIMATES.
Part H of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289
et seq.), as amended by section 2, is further amended by inserting
after section 495A the following:
``SEC. 495B. NIH REPORT ON RESEARCH CAUSING PAIN OR DISTRESS TO
NONHUMAN PRIMATES.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Director of the
NIH shall publish on the NIH website, and submit to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a
report on the use of nonhuman primates in NIH-conducted and supported
biomedical research.
``(b) Contents of Report.--Each report under subsection (a) shall
include, for the period covered by the report--
``(1) a list of all ongoing or prospective research
projects involving a nonhuman primate that are conducted or
supported by the NIH;
``(2) for each project--
``(A) the project title;
``(B) the grant or contract number;
``(C) the research abstract;
``(D) the research location;
``(E) the cost to taxpayers during the previous
fiscal year and since inception;
``(F) the number of nonhuman primates used;
``(G) the projected start and end dates;
``(H) the Department of Agriculture pain and
distress category; and
``(I) the amount of funds obligated or estimated to
be obligated for each such project;
``(3) an explanation of--
``(A) efforts to phase out the use of nonhuman
primates in research that is conducted or supported by
the NIH; and
``(B) any barriers to such phase out; and
``(4) the number of nonhuman primates retired from research
conducted or supported by the NIH and relocated to sanctuaries.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `NIH' means the National Institutes of
Health.
``(2) The term `research that causes significant pain or
distress' includes any study classified in pain category D or E
by the Department of Agriculture.''.
SEC. 5. GAO STUDY ON NIH NONHUMAN PRIMATE RESEARCH AND EFFORTS TO
REDUCE USE OF NONHUMAN PRIMATES IN TESTING.
(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit a report to the Congress that--
(1) reviews and summarizes the use of nonhuman primates in
research that is conducted or supported by the NIH;
(2) identifies NIH policies and initiatives aimed at
reducing and replacing the specific use of nonhuman primates in
research that is conducted or supported by the NIH;
(3) assesses the effectiveness of any NIH policies and
initiatives aimed at reducing and replacing the use of nonhuman
primates in NIH-conducted and supported research;
(4) compares NIH efforts to reduce and replace nonhuman
primate testing to similar efforts at other Federal agencies;
(5) identifies areas where the NIH can improve--
(A) efforts to reduce and replace the use of
nonhuman primates in research that is conducted or
supported by the NIH; and
(B) public reporting on progress made;
(6) assesses the effectiveness of any NIH policies and
initiatives aimed at retiring nonhuman primates no longer
needed in research conducted or supported by the NIH to
sanctuaries;
(7) makes recommendations for improving--
(A) the effectiveness of efforts to reduce and
replace the use of nonhuman primates in research
conducted or supported by the NIH; and
(B) public reporting on progress made; and
(8) includes any other matter the Comptroller General of
the United States determines important to assessing and
improving NIH's efforts to reduce and replace the use of
nonhuman primates in federally funded research.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``NIH'' means the National Institutes of
Health.
(2) The term ``research that causes significant pain or
distress'' includes any study classified in pain category D or
E by the Department of Agriculture.
<all>