Congresswoman Nancy Mace Introduces The Primates Act Of 2024 To End Painful NIH Experiments On Monkeys

(Washington, D.C., September 17th, 2024) – Congresswoman Nancy Mace has taken up another measure for animal welfare by introducing the “Painful Research and Investigations on Monkeys Abused in Taxpayer-funded Experiments Stops (PRIMATES) Act” of 2024. 

Every year, the NIH spends tens of billions (NIH) of taxpayer dollars on painful and often ineffective animal experiments, confining hundreds of thousands of animals to labs. Alarmingly, 90% of basic research involving animals fails to lead to human treatments (HSI), yet the NIH continues to waste resources on these outdated practices. The PRIMATES Act seeks to end this cruelty, ensuring our scientific advancements do not come at the cost of suffering. This bill has the support of the government watchdog group, White Coat Waste Project.

“The American people’s hard-earned money should not be spent on funding cruelty to animals,”said Representative Nancy Mace.“We’ve sent letters to the NIH regarding their harmful tests on ‘Monkey Island.’ We will continue to put an end to this madness. It’s time for the NIH to evolve and prioritize humane, alternative research methods, respecting the lives of these intelligent creatures.”

On behalf of our 3 million-plus supporters across the country, we are proud to endorse Rep. Mace’s PRIMATES Act to cut the NIH’s taxpayer-funded monkey business. Working with Rep. Mace, we’ve exposed how Dr. Fauci’s Monkey Island in South Carolina supplies thousands of primates for wasteful, dangerous, and painful experiments in federal labs where they’re exposed to deadly bioagents like Ebola and denied relief as they suffer excruciating deaths. Our investigations have also uncovered how the NIH has wasted millions damaging monkeys' brains with acid, chaining them by the neck in tiny cages & terrorizing them on video with toy snakes & spiders,” said Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President at government watchdog White Coat Waste Project. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for the NIH’s wasteful multi-million-dollar monkey business in labs and Rep. Mace’s PRIMATES Act will ensure they aren’t any longer. The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!”

Key Provisions of the PRIMATES Act of 2024:

• Prohibition on Painful Research: The NIH will be banned from conducting or supporting research which causes significant pain or distress to nonhuman primates.

• No Transfers for Harmful Research: The legislation will prevent the NIH from transferring nonhuman primates to any laboratory for such research purposes.

• Annual Transparency Reports: The NIH will be required to publish an annual report detailing ongoing and prospective research projects involving nonhuman primates, along with initiatives to phase out their use and relocate them to sanctuaries where they can live in peace.

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