Carter bill reducing animal testing passes House committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA) today celebrated the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's passage of the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, a bill directing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fully implement provisions to reduce unnecessary animal testing for drug development.

Each year in the United States, millions of animals - including an estimated 50,000 dogs - are used in laboratory experiments and testing. This bill would require the FDA to fully implement the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, ensuring that safe and effective treatments are developed using advanced, innovative non-animal testing methods. This would mean phasing out animal testing and promoting humane alternatives, giving dogs traditionally used in labs, including the 1,500 beagles recently rescued in Wisconsin, the opportunity to leave research facilities and find loving homes.

"The advancement of the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee marks another major step toward a more modern, effective, and humane system for evaluating medicines," said Rep. Carter. "Congress already acted in 2022 to remove unnecessary barriers to innovative non-animal testing methods, and this bill helps ensure FDA implementation fully reflects both the law and today's scientific capabilities."

"The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 was a monumental victory that helped modernize drug development and accelerate innovation without having to sacrifice animal welfare," said Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL). "With FDA Modernization 3.0 now advancing out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congress is taking the next step to build upon this success and ensure the FDA follows through on delivering speedier cures for diseases without subjecting animals to inhumane and counterproductive experiments."

"Today's full committee passage is another important step toward modernizing how we bring safe and effective drugs to market," said Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN). "The FDA has the authority to move beyond outdated, cruel testing methods, and our bill simply directs the FDA to follow through and update its regulations accordingly. I'm proud to work alongside Congressman Buddy Carter and my colleagues to keep this bipartisan effort moving forward."

"We so appreciate Buddy Carter's leadership on this legislation to accelerate the process of winding down the use of beagles, primates, and other animals in painful, invasive, and ineffective tests," said Wayne Pacelle, President of the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action. "Congress and the FDA are signaling to all drug developers that they should move with intentionality to employ human-biology-based drug screening methods and to leave the dogs, primates, and other animals out of their R&D programs."

Read bill text here.

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