WCW Announces 2016 “Congressional Waste Warrior” Awards

Posted by Justin Goodman
01 December 2016 | Blog


wcw-2016-waste-warriors

White Coat Waste Project is proud to announce the six recipients of our inaugural “Congressional Waste Warrior” awards for the 114th Congress. The prize recognizes Members of Congress who have demonstrated outstanding leadership on critical efforts to expose and stop wasteful spending on unnecessary animal experimentation inside government laboratories. Recent polls show that a majority of Americans oppose animal experiments and want federal spending for them cut.

Our 2016 honorees, who will receive their trophies during private presentations, are:

SENATE

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

    • Authors the influential Waste Book, which this year documented 50 troubling examples of outrageous and bizarre federal spending including projects forcing hamsters to fight and running fish on treadmills.
    • Cosponsored the Senate chemical testing reform bill that was signed into law and is designed to prevent expensive, slow and unnecessary tests on millions of animals by EPA and others

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

Richard Blumenthal Official Portrait.jpg

  • Introduced an amendment to the FY17 defense spending bill requesting a study of financial and educational benefits of using modern and cost-effective human simulation to replace millions spent annually to shoot animals for outdated military medic training. For years, Sen. Blumenthal has led this effort, and it is now endorsed by the New York Times
  • Original cosponsor of the AWARE Act to prevent abuse and waste in animal laboratories at the USDA following a New York Times expose of the Meat Animal Research Center
  • Cosponsored the Senate chemical testing reform bill that was signed into law and is designed to prevent expensive, slow and unnecessary tests on millions of animals by EPA and others


HOUSE
Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA)
calvert-award-photo-2016

  • Hosted a briefing on secretive and wasteful dog experiments in federal laboratories, including at the Pentagon, on whose funding committee he serves
  • Hosted a briefing on the need to increase use of faster, cheaper and more effective alternatives to animal tests at federal agencies
  • Signed a letter to the DOD urging it to replace unnecessary and expensive animal use for military medic training with superior and cost-effective human simulators
  • Voted for the chemical testing reform bill that was signed into law and is designed to prevent expensive, slow and unnecessary tests on millions of animals by EPA and others


Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA)
marino-award-photo-2016

  • Sent a letter to Labor-HHS Appropriations Chairman urging closer scrutiny of NIH spending on wasteful animal experiments
  • Hosted the “High-Tech Health Expo” to promote small businesses producing modern and cost-effective alternatives to animal testing now in high demand by federal agencies
  • Cosponsored the BEST Practices Act to replace unnecessary and expensive animal use for military medic training with superior and cost-effective human simulators
  • Voted for the chemical testing reform bill that was signed into law and is designed to prevent expensive, slow and unnecessary tests on millions of animals by EPA and others


Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
roybal-allard-award-photo-2016

  • Led a successful effort that ended a wasteful multi-million dollar psychological experiments on baby monkeys at a National Institutes of Health laboratory in Maryland
  • Led successful effort to defund federal licensing of “random source” animal dealers that often illegally sold lost and stolen dogs and cats to laboratories, calling oversight of these serially-abusive companies an “unjustifiable drain” on taxpayers’ resources
  • Advocated to expedite retirement of NIH-owned chimpanzees, which will save taxpayers millions of dollars
  • Cosponsored the BEST Practices Act to replace expensive and unnecessary animal use for military medic training with superior and cost-effective human simulators
  • Voted for the chemical testing reform bill that was signed into law and is designed to prevent expensive, slow and unnecessary tests on millions of animals by EPA and others
  • Cosponsored the AWARE Act to prevent abuse and waste in animal laboratories at the USDA following a New York Times expose of the Meat Animal Research Center


Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV)
titus-award-photo-2016


We are also pleased to present our “Accountability All-Star” awards to exceptional Congressional staffers who have contributed significantly to efforts to expose and end wasteful animal experiments. The awardees are:

  • Elizabeth Decker (Legislative Assistant, Rep. Dina Titus)
  • Debbie Jessup (Health Policy Advisor, Rep. Roybal-Allard)
  • Molly Lowe (Legislative Assistant, Rep. Ken Calvert)
  • Matt Powell (Legislative Assistant, Rep. Tom Marino)
  • Kyle Roerink (Communications Director, Rep. Dina Titus)


Please urge your Members of Congress to join these leaders’ efforts to end wasteful taxpayer-funded animal experiments.

Blog Comments

Stop & end all animal experimentation where ever it is in labs or universities etc. Innocent animals are dying, suffering excruciating pain incarcerated for nothing. It is cruel & inhumane. Wasting billion of tax payers money. They must be shut down now. Thank you

Please do whatever is necessary to end animal experiments,with the knowledge the world has now there is an alternative to experimenting on animals. Save their lives and save tax payers money.

Although I a glad to see something is being done about all of the animal testing that happens in the U.S. their is not much information on what, how, when and where these happened that states were done. Animal testing, torture,abuse and killing has been happening far too long. It’s a shame humans do this. I myself have taken in animals that were from labs. Keep up the hard work and get a new writer.

If this is federal funded experiments, isn’t the House of Representative approve the spending and is confirmed by the senate. Is Congress reading the Spending Bills? It could be simple just have the House vote to stop tax payer funding and have the Senate vote. But congress needs a campaign to a problem that they created and could fix. America, hold your congress accountable they work for you and stop electing idiots, each bill presented should be voted on its merit and have a constitutional test before it gets a vote. Why, does congress think it needs all these committees and sub-committees, don’t they more things to do like read the bills. Just a thought, Citizens of America unit hold your congress accountable to spending and campaign promises and vote them out if they aren’t doing the job.

lets NOT forget research charities. tell the march of dimes (ect!), if you wouldnt take your baby to the VET, WHY would you walk for animal research????? (visit facebook.com/garyfair96).

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