Animals

Dear Representative,

As your constituent, I am writing to ask for your leadership on a Senate version of the Great Ape Protection Act (currently H.R. 1326). This legislation will end invasive research on chimpanzees, retire all federally-owned chimpanzees to sanctuary, and codify NIH’s administrative ban on federal funding for breeding chimpanzees. About 1,000 chimpanzees live at great taxpayer expense in eight labs. The vast majority are not in active research, but instead are languishing in these facilities. Chimpanzees are extremely expensive to maintain in a lab. They have failed as effective research models for humans and they suffer psychologically from the hardships that accompany their use in research and confinement in a lab. The majority of the U.S. chimpanzee population has spent decades in a lab - some 40 or 50 years. A full 71% of the American public believes that those who have spent 10 years or more should be retired to sanctuary. It is estimated that nearly $200 million taxpayer dollars will be saved through this legislation as it phases out of the use of chimpanzees in invasive research and transfers them to sanctuary retirement, including our federal chimpanzee sanctuary. The Great Ape Protection Act is a long overdue, common-sense reform that will: protect our closest genetic relatives from physical and psychological harm; stop the cost to American taxpayers who pay for their substandard laboratory maintenance and care; and allow precious NIH dollars to be reallocated to more productive areas of research that can truly benefit humans. This issue is very important to me. I would be very grateful for your leadership on this critical legislation. Sincerely,

[Your name here]