White Coat Waste Project is proud to announce the recipients of our annual “Congressional Waste Warrior” awards for 2017. As reported in Roll Call, this award recognizes members of Congress who have demonstrated outstanding leadership to expose and stop $15 billion in wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer-funded animal experiments, an effort that a majority of Americans support. Below are our 2017 honorees, who will receive their awards during private presentations.

SENATE
Senator Dean Heller (R-NV)

• Leading Senate efforts to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests
• Co-sponsoring the BEST Practices Act to end wasteful military medical training drills that involve shooting, stabbing and blowing up animals and that the Pentagon reports are “outdated and cost-prohibitive.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)

• Successfully secured a federal audit of spending transparency failures exposed by WCW at National Institutes of Health-funded animal laboratories
• Introduced legislation, the BASIC Research Act, to appoint a taxpayer advocate to all review panels for federal research grants
• Continued to release his influential Waste Reports documenting dozens of troubling examples of outrageous and bizarre federal spending

HOUSE
Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA)

• Introduced the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Led and passed legislation to de-fund the VA’s most painful dog experiments
• Sent a letter to the VA urging it to adopt out dogs from its labs to veterans
• Published a U.S. News op-ed and gave a compelling speech on the floor of the House of Representatives about his efforts to end VA’s dog testing
• Co-sponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL)

I’ve been working to end the VA’s practice of conducting painful & unnecessary tests on dogs. I’m grateful to be recognized by @WhiteCoatWaste as a “Waste Warrior,” but I know there is much more we can & must do to protect animals & end wasteful spending. This is just the start! pic.twitter.com/YUOa01cKn9

— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) December 7, 2017

• Introduced the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Co-led and passed legislation to de-fund the VA’s most painful dog experiments
• Sent a letter to the VA urging it to adopt out dogs from its labs to veterans
• Co-sponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)

• Introduced the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Co-led and passed legislation to de-fund the VA’s most painful dog experiments
• Led a successful effort to end deadly experiments on Dobermans at the Los Angeles VA
• Sent a letter to the VA urging it to adopt out dogs from its labs to veterans
• Co-sponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)

• Cosponsored the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Co-led and passed legislation to de-fund the VA’s most painful dog experiments
• Gave a compelling speech on the floor of the House of Representatives about his efforts to end VA’s dog testing

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA)

• Cosponsored the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Met with WCW and a whistleblower from the Richmond VA who helped expose “maximum pain” experiments on dogs to discuss holding VA accountable and protecting whistleblowers
• Cosponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY)

• Introduced the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Co-authored a New York Daily News op-ed condemning “maximum pain” dog experiments at the VA
• Sent a letter to the VA urging it to adopt out dogs from its labs to veterans
• Cosponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) 

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Thank you to the dedicated folks at @WhiteCoatWaste, who honored me today with an award for my work in Congress to end taxpayer-funded animal testing. pic.twitter.com/00QD8N0PPC

— Rep. Brendan Boyle (@CongBoyle) December 13, 2017

• Introduced the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Cosponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)

• Sent a letter to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) criticizing its plans for wasteful and cruel animal tests for so-called “abortion herbs”
• Cosponsored the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Cosponsored the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests

Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA)  

• Cosponsored the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Helped lead a successful effort to end deadly experiments on Dobermans at the Los Angeles VA
• Spoke at WCW’s “The Price is Wrong” Congressional briefing on wasteful government animal experiments

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)

• Introduced the Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act to improve oversight of the federal program charged with promoting the use of superior, cost-efficient alternatives to wasteful animal tests
• Sent a letter to the VA calling for an investigation of its dog experiments
• Appeared with White Coat Waste Project on Full Measure with Sheryl Attkisson criticizing federal spending on wasteful animal tests

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN)

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Glad to be one of the 15 members from both parties recognized by @WhiteCoatWaste for eliminating government funding for animal experiments. See what we’re doing to eliminate this cruel, wasteful practice here: https://t.co/GUtfvxsUUL pic.twitter.com/kFipMiCBD4

— Rep. Erik Paulsen (@RepErikPaulsen) December 13, 2017

• Cosponsored the bipartisan PUPPERS Act to end painful and wasteful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Led a successful effort to secure a federal audit of government animal testing transparency and spending
• Released a video discussing his work to end VA’s dog experiments

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL)

• As the top Democrat on the committee that controls VA funding, she helped pass legislation to cut funding for the VA’s painful and wasteful dog experiments
• Gave a compelling speech on the floor of the House of Representatives about her efforts to end VA’s dog testing

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)

• As the chairman of the committee that controls VA funding, he helped advance legislation to cut funding for the VA’s painful and wasteful dog experiments