AAMC's Letter to Senator
Cochran on the Agricultural Appropriations Bill Language Concerning
the Definition of "Animal" in USDA Regulations
[In early October 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation
(ARDF) reached a settlement in the ARDF's litigation to change
the regulatory definition of animal in the Animal Welfare
Act regulations. AAMC issued a statement
expressing disappointment with the settlement. The Association
earlier wrote USDA Secretary Glickman
urging that the suit be contested and that settlement talks
be halted. Subsequently, a provision was added to the USDA's
FY 2001 appropriations bill prohibiting the Agency from changing
the definition. AAMC President Dr. Jordan Cohen sent the following
letter to the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee expressing
appreciation for his initiative in including the language
in the final conference agreement on the bill. For more information
on this issue, contact Tony Mazzaschi, tmazzaschi@aamc.org
AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research.]
October 6, 2000
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Chairman
Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
Senate Committee on Appropriations
SD-136 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6026
Dear Chairman Cochran:
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is very
appreciative of your successful initiative to include language
in the FY 2001 Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related
Agencies Appropriations bill to prohibit the USDA from changing
the regulatory definition of animal in the Animal Welfare
Act regulations. The provision you championed will prevent
the USDA from implementing a settlement of the misguided litigation
instigated by the Alternatives Research & Development
Foundation (ARDF).
This settlement was a severe blow to the hopes of patients
and their families who look to medical research as their only
chance for relief from the ravages of disease. Millions of
dollars and uncountable hours would have been diverted from
research to a bureaucratic record-keeping activity that would
have provided no benefit to laboratory animals. Your action
helped stop this waste of research funding and is greatly
appreciated.
As you know, all of our institutions continue to abide by
the standards embodied in the U.S. Public Health Service Policy
on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, as well
as by the Good Laboratory Practices regulations of
the Food and Drug Administration. Like you, we remain dedicated
to the humane treatment of animals in research and education
and recognize that good science demands good animal care.
But coverage of rats, mice and birds under the Animal Welfare
Act regulations would result in duplicate care standards,
enormous new costs, and new reporting requirements that make
no sense.
Again, the medical schools, teaching hospitals, faculty,
students and residents represented by AAMC thank you for stopping
this unwise and unwarranted effort by some to cripple medical
research.
Sincerely,
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
President, AAMC
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