Texas Legislator Joins Effort to Ban NIH Funding of Foreign Animal Experiments

For Immediate Release:
June 2, 2025

Contact:
Brandi Pharris 202-483-7382

El Paso, Texas –

U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar (D-Texas-16) has stepped forward to co-sponsor the bipartisan H.R.1085/S.1802, Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act, a bill that seeks to end the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) use of U.S. federal money to fund experiments on animals in foreign laboratories.

NIH doled out more than $2.2 billion in grants to fund experiments on animals in laboratories in South America, Europe, Asia, Canada, and elsewhere between 2011 and 2021. NIH does not verify the claims made in grant applications or progress reports, and doesn’t keep tabs on whether the foreign laboratories it funds violate local animal welfare laws. The lack of accountability and adequate oversight has led to animal abuse, fraud, and research misconduct.

The CARGO Act would end the flow of money to foreign laboratories that operate outside the reach of U.S. law, saving countless animals from cruel experiments and freeing up vital funding for human-relevant research methods. It is in keeping with NIH’s recent announcement that it is prioritizing human-relevant research and decreasing experiments on animals.

“PETA thanks Rep. Escobar for standing up for animals, science, and taxpayers,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “The CARGO Act is a commonsense solution that deserves swift congressional support.”

The bipartisan bill was introduced by Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas-22) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.-01), and Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), following a disturbing PETA investigation that uncovered the NIH’s continued funding of the Caucaseco Scientific Research Center—a discredited Colombian laboratory with a history of violating animal care standards.

*Monkeys confined in filthy, decrepit cages at the Caucaseco Scientific Research Center, which received millions of U.S. tax dollars from NIH. Image obtained through public records law by PETA.*

NIH encouraged additional funding for the laboratory—which received more than $17 million in federal funding—even after it was caught confining monkeys in filthy conditions, leaving them to die from infected wounds, and starving mice to the point of cannibalism. PETA’s efforts led to the rescue of 108 monkeys and 180 mice, the retraction of a research paper connected to the laboratory, and expressions of concern on four other research papers, including one co-authored by an NIH official.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.