The CHIMP Act Amendments of 2013 () is a bill that would modify the

Public Health Service Act The Public Health Service Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1944. The full act is codified in Title 42 of the United States Code (The Public Health and Welfare), Chapter 6A (Public Health Service). Contents The act clearly establis ...

to allow the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

to spend a larger portion of their budget on funding the care of retired chimpanzees in chimp sanctuaries. The bill passed the Senate during the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

. Its title is a five-letter

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

that stands for "Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act of 2013".

Background

The

(NIH), part of the federal government, makes use of

Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s for medical research and testing. After these chimpanzees can no longer be used for research purposes, they are "retired" and sent to the

Chimp Haven Chimp Haven is a non-profit sanctuary for more than 300 chimpanzees retired from laboratory research. The sanctuary is located in Eddie D. Jones Nature Park in Keithville, Louisiana, approximately southwest of Shreveport. History In addition ...

. Chimp Haven, the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary, is a species-specific facility designed to provide a home for chimpanzees that are retired from invasive biomedical research, the pet trade, and the entertainment industry. An existing law known as the Chimp Act places a cap of $30 million on the amount of money the NIH can spend on sanctuary care for their retired chimpanzees. Funding for continuing to house NIH-retired chimpanzees at Chimp Haven was expected to run out in mid-November 2013.

Provisions of the bill

The CHIMP Act Amendments of 2013 would grant the NIH more budgetary flexibility so that they can retire additional chimpanzees to sanctuaries and continue to support the chimps already retired.

Procedural history

Senate

The CHIMP Act Amendments of 2013 was introduced in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on September 30, 2013 by Sen. Tom Harkin (D, IA). The bill was referred to the

United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction also extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Sena ...

and the

. On October 30, 2013, the Senate voted to pass the bill by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

Debate and discussion

Supporters of the bill argue that it is necessary for moral reasons. Senator Harkin said that "we have an obligation to provide care for animals that have directly contributed to our medical knowledge." Supporters also argued that it would save the taxpayers money in comparison to the NIH continuing to care for the chimps they would prefer to retire. The bill had the support of the

Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

Notes/References

External links

Library of Congress - Thomas S. 1561beta.congress.gov S. 1561GovTrack.us S. 1561OpenCongress.org S. 1561
{{DEFAULTSORT:CHIMP Act Amendments of 2013 (S. 1561 113th Congress) Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress