Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Corey Booker (D-N.J.) announced they are introducing a bill to end U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) animal testing mandates.
The FDA Modernization Act will put an end to an FDA mandate that requires experimental drugs to be tested on animals before they are used on humans in clinical trials.
The proposed legislation, introduced Thursday, is currently co-sponsored by Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).
The legislation will not ban animal testing but will give drug sponsors an option to use alternative methods, according to the statement.
“The FDA Modernization Act would accelerate innovation and get safer, more effective drugs to market more quickly by cutting red tape that is not supported by current science,” Paul said in a press conference on Thursday.
“It would also prevent the needless suffering and death of animal test subjects — which is something I think both Republican and Democrats can agree needs to end.”
“Thanks to modern scientific innovation, the use of animal toxicity testing for experimental drugs has become increasingly obsolete,” Booker said.
“This legislation will eliminate unnecessary suffering for countless animals when scientifically reliable alternative testing methods are available.”
Booker, a vegan, previously introduced the Farm System Reform Act, which seeks to phase out confined animal feeding operations by 2040.