Letter to Farm Bill Conferees
on Rats, Mice and Birds Amendment
February
28, 2002
The Honorable Larry Combest
Chairman
Committee on Agriculture
U.S. House of Representatives
1301 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
On behalf of the Association of American Medical Colleges
(AAMC), I write to urge your support for a provision in the
Senate version of the Farm
Bill, which excludes rats, mice, and birds from the definition
of "animal" in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). This
provision would prevent the implementation of additional burdensome
paperwork that would unnecessarily hinder biomedical research.
All of our institutions are already subject to the standards
embodied in the U.S. Public Health Service Policy on Humane
Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Institute for Laboratory
Animal Research Guide. Thus, any change in the AWA regulations
regarding mice, rats, and birds is likely only to increase
our institution's reporting requirements at a great cost,
with no additional benefit to the animals.
The AAMC represents the nation's 125 accredited medical schools,
nearly 400 major teaching hospitals, more than 87,000 faculty
in 98 professional and scientific societies, and the nation's
67,000 medical students and 102,000 residents. More than half
of the extramural research funding awarded by the National
Institutes of Health goes to medical schools and their affiliated
teaching hospitals. Much of this research involves the use
of rats and mice. As such, the Association has a long history
of involvement in legislative and regulatory issues concerning
the use of animals in research and has a strong commitment
to the humane care and treatment of laboratory animals.
Again, thank you for leadership on this issue and we look
forward to working with you to preserve this provision as
the bill in considered in the conference committee. Please
contact Erica Froyd, 202-828-0525 <efroyd@aamc.org>,
with any questions.
Sincerely,
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
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