II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 707 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to allow for the retirement of certain 

animals used in Federal research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

HICKENLOOPER, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. KING, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. CARPER, and 

Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to allow for the retirement 

of certain animals used in Federal research, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Freedom from 

5 Testing, Experiments, and Research Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘AFTER Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN FEDERAL RE2 SEARCH. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 14 of the Animal Welfare 

4 Act (7 U.S.C. 2144) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 14. STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL FACILITIES. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION.—The 

8 term ‘animal rescue organization’ means a nonprofit 

9 organization the purpose of which is to rescue cov10 ered animals and find permanent adoptive homes for 

11 those animals. 

12 ‘‘(2) ANIMAL SANCTUARY.—The term ‘animal 

13 sanctuary’ means a nonprofit organization that— 

14 ‘‘(A) is registered with the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(B) operates a place of refuge in which— 

16 ‘‘(i) a covered animal is provided care 

17 for the lifetime of the animal; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) an unescorted public visitation of 

19 that animal is not permitted; 

20 ‘‘(C) does not engage in commercial trade 

21 of covered animals; 

22 ‘‘(D) does not breed covered animals; 

23 ‘‘(E) does not permit direct contact be24 tween the public and covered animals; 


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1 ‘‘(F) does not allow the use of a covered 

2 animal for performance or exhibition purposes; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(G) does not conduct or permit research 

5 on a covered animal other than noninvasive be6 havioral research. 

7 ‘‘(3) ANIMAL SHELTER.—The term ‘animal 

8 shelter’ means a facility that— 

9 ‘‘(A) accepts or seizes covered animals— 

10 ‘‘(i) to care for the animals; 

11 ‘‘(ii) to place those animals in a per12 manent adoptive home; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of law enforcement; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) does not— 

16 ‘‘(i) engage in commercial trade of 

17 covered animals; 

18 ‘‘(ii) breed covered animals; 

19 ‘‘(iii) allow the use of a covered ani20 mal for performance or exhibition pur21 poses; or 

22 ‘‘(iv) conduct or permit research on a 

23 covered animal other than noninvasive be24 havioral research. 

25 ‘‘(4) COVERED ANIMAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 

2 animal’ means an animal that is unwanted, 

3 abandoned, or otherwise in need of placement 

4 in a home. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered 

6 animal’ does not include— 

7 ‘‘(i) a rat of the genus Rattus; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) a mouse of the genus Mus. 

9 ‘‘(5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

10 ‘nonprofit organization’ means an organization de11 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec13 tion 501(a) of that Code. 

14 ‘‘(6) SUITABLE FOR RETIREMENT.—The term 

15 ‘suitable for retirement’ means, with respect to an 

16 animal, that the animal has been evaluated by a li17 censed veterinarian and is determined to be mentally 

18 and physically healthy. 

19 ‘‘(b) LABORATORY ANIMAL FACILITIES AND EXHIBI20 TORS.—Any department, agency, or instrumentality of the 

21 United States that operates laboratory animal facilities or 

22 exhibits animals shall comply with the standards and other 

23 requirements promulgated by the Secretary under sub24 sections (a), (g), (h), and (i) of section 13. 

25 ‘‘(c) RETIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of enactment of the AFTER Act of 

3 2023, any department, agency, or instrumentality of 

4 the United States operating a Federal research facil5 ity shall, after public notice and comment, promul6 gate regulations that, with respect to any animal of 

7 the facility that is no longer needed for research and 

8 determined to be suitable for retirement— 

9 ‘‘(A) facilitate and encourage the adoption 

10 of the animal by, or placement of the animal 

11 with— 

12 ‘‘(i) an animal rescue organization, 

13 animal sanctuary, animal shelter, or indi14 vidual who intends to keep the animal as 

15 a pet; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a nonhuman pri17 mate, an animal sanctuary; and 

18 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

19 collaborate with appropriate nonprofit organiza20 tions to carry out subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PLACEMENT.—The regulations 

22 promulgated to carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall in23 clude consideration of placing animals with the enti24 ties described in that subparagraph that are located 

25 beyond the immediate geographic vicinity of the 


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1 Federal research facility at which the animal being 

2 retired is located. 

3 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec4 tion, including regulations promulgated under subsection 

5 (c)(1), shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) preempt any State or local law relating to 

7 the adoption or placement of animals used in re8 search that is more stringent than the requirements 

9 of this section; 

10 ‘‘(2) prohibit, prevent, forestall, or otherwise 

11 impede the placement of any chimpanzee that has 

12 been used, or was bred or purchased for use, in re13 search conducted or supported by a Federal agency 

14 into the sanctuary system established under section 

15 404K of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 283m); or 

17 ‘‘(3) prevent a State or unit of local government 

18 from adopting or enforcing an animal welfare law 

19 that is more stringent than this section.’’. 

20 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 13 of the 

21 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

23 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by redesignating the second subsection (f) 

2 (relating to the certification requirement for the de3 livery of any animal) as subsection (g). 

Æ 


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