Sponsors (4)
The bill trades increased transparency, U.S. regulatory oversight, and potentially stronger animal-welfare and biosafety protections for NIH-funded projects against disruption of international collaborations, slower biomedical progress, higher research and administrative costs, and potential strain on domestic research infrastructure.
Taxpayers and the public gain clearer transparency about how roughly $2.2 billion in NIH funds were used overseas, enabling congressional and public oversight of that spending.
Researchers and institutions could face strengthened research-integrity expectations and clearer oversight for foreign animal studies, improving accountability for NIH-funded work abroad.
Researchers, hospitals, and patients benefit from requiring NIH-funded animal studies to meet U.S. regulatory/oversight and animal-welfare standards, reducing risks from lower-biosafety or lower-welfare practices in some foreign countries.
Patients, hospitals, and the public may face slower biomedical progress and delayed therapies because bans or restrictions on foreign animal studies can disrupt research timelines dependent on international work.
U.S.-funded researchers and taxpayers will lose benefits of international collaborations—NIH will not fund animal-based work performed abroad—disrupting ongoing projects and partnerships.
Research projects may incur higher costs (and thus higher grant/taxpayer spending) if investigators must relocate or replicate foreign animal work in the U.S., increasing overall program costs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Bars NIH from funding any research using live animals unless that work is performed in U.S. states, territories, or possessions.
Introduced May 19, 2025 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress May 19, 2025
Stops the NIH from funding any research that uses live animals unless the work is done in a U.S. state, territory, or possession. It cites past foreign funding levels and concerns about lack of on-site NIH inspections and animal-welfare oversight for research done abroad. The law adds a prohibition to the Public Health Service Act preventing the NIH Director from awarding grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or technical assistance for animal research conducted outside the United States (with "United States" explicitly including territories and possessions). No exemptions, carve-outs, or funding to expand domestic capacity are included in the text provided.