A bill to amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure the humane treatment of laboratory animals.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Science and Technology.
Amends the Animal Welfare Act to require any research facility using live animals for research, testing, teaching, or for the production of medical or veterinary products to utilize certain methods of research and testing which minimize the pain inflicted upon such animals. Defines pain for the purposes of the Act to mean not only hurtful immediate physical sensations but also debilitation and significant physical and behavioral distress. Includes within the humane standards for animals transported in commerce the requirement that such animals be provided with space for normal exercise. Permits elementary and secondary schools to keep live animals for observational studies not involving pain without registering with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (formerly the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare) provided that they are kept under humane conditions. Requires research facilities to establish and maintain animal care committees which shall be responsible for the care and use of such animals in accordance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to appoint an advisory committee on the humane treatment of laboratory animals. Subjects research facilities to criminal penalties for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 18, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 18, 1980: Referred to House Committee on Science and Technology.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
PATRICIA SCHROEDER (D-CO) introduced it on March 18, 1980. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 18, 1980, 17024 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17024 days ago, on March 18, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers