SOT interacts with a wide variety of organizations and agencies in order to have greater success in fulfilling its mission of “creating a safer and healthier world by advancing the science and increasing the impact of toxicology.” Because SOT is a member of the National Association of Biomedical Research (NABR), we are providing you with their mechanism for expressing your support of the Enforcement Transparency Act (ETA) via the tools provided by this organization. This bill, H.R. 3136, requires the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue and publish on its website guidelines relating to the calculation of civil fines for violating provisions of the Animal Welfare Act regarding the transportation, sale, and handling of certain animals. USDA must update the guidelines on a quarterly basis, provide notice on its website prior to making the updates, and publish the updates in the Federal Register.
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Excerpt from NABR Message
It is important that your Congressman hear from constituents that support H.R. 3136, the Enforcement Transparency Act. Congressional support for H.R. 3136 is building and hearing from supporters like you will help ignite further interest in the bill.
NABR's Capwiz system makes it quick and easy to send a pre-written (but editable) message of support to your Congressman. Please take a moment to urge your Congressman to cosponsor and support H.R. 3136!
H.R. 3136 would require the USDA to release the guidelines used by Investigative and Enforcement Services (IES) at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the formulation of any civil penalties for violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). This common-sense, bipartisan bill will provide the research community and the public with a much greater understanding of how penalties are calculated for enforcement actions by USDA. Currently, USDA subjectively determines AWA penalties on a case-by-case basis, and the results are unpredictable and inconsistent. These guidelines were once publicly available, but in recent years USDA has chosen to deny the research community and Members of Congress access to them. The last available AWA penalty guidelines, which are still posted on USDA's website (see page 44), have been revised five times and now are outdated. To read NABR's talking points on the ETA, please visit the NABR website.
This right to know is the soul of open, transparent government, especially when the issuance of financial penalties could impact American competitiveness. If the general public can have knowledge of other penalties such as littering, jaywalking, or speeding, the same should apply to laws enforced by USDA.
Again, please contact your Congressman and urge him or her to cosponsor and support H.R. 3136. Use NABR's Capwiz system to send an email directly to their offices.