II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 810 

To prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great apes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 13, 2011 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. 

LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great 

apes, 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 ‘‘Great Ape Protection 

5 and Cost Savings Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) chimpanzees are the only great apes cur9 rently used in invasive research in the United 

10 States; 


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1 (2)(A) as of the date of introduction of this 

2 Act, there are approximately 1,000 chimpanzees 

3 housed in laboratories in the United States; 

(B) more than 1 4 ⁄2 of these chimpanzees are 

5 owned by the Federal Government; and 

6 (C) the vast majority are financially supported 

7 by the Federal Government; 

8 (3) great apes are highly intelligent and social 

9 animals; 

10 (4) research laboratory environments involving 

11 invasive research cannot meet the complex physical, 

12 social, and psychological needs of great apes; 

13 (5) invasive research performed on great apes, 

14 and the breeding, housing, maintenance, and trans15 port of great apes for these purposes, are economic 

16 in nature and substantially affect interstate com17 merce; 

18 (6) maintaining great apes in laboratories costs 

19 the Federal Government more than caring for great 

20 apes in suitable sanctuaries that are specifically de21 signed to provide adequate lifetime care for great 

22 apes; and 

23 (7) the National Research Council report enti24 tled ‘‘Chimpanzees in Research—Strategies for their 


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1 Ethical Care, Management, and Use’’ concluded 

2 that— 

3 (A) there is a ‘‘moral responsibility’’ for 

4 the long-term care of chimpanzees used for sci5 entific research; 

6 (B) there should be a moratorium on fur7 ther chimpanzee breeding; 

8 (C) euthanasia should not be used as a 

9 means to control the size of the great ape popu10 lation; and 

11 (D) sanctuaries should be created to house 

12 chimpanzees in a manner consistent with high 

13 standards of lifetime care, social enrichment, 

14 and cognitive development. 

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

16 (1) phase out invasive research on great apes 

17 and the use of Federal funding of such research, 

18 both within and outside of the United States; 

19 (2) prohibit the transport of great apes for pur20 poses of invasive research; 

21 (3) prohibit the breeding of great apes for pur22 poses of invasive research; and 

23 (4) require the provision of lifetime care of 

24 great apes who are owned by or under the control 


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1 of the Federal Government in a suitable sanctuary 

2 through the permanent retirement of the apes. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ASSIGNED TO AN ACTIVE PROTOCOL.—The 

6 term ‘‘assigned to an active protocol’’ means that a 

7 great ape is supported by, or used pursuant to, pub8 lic or private funding that requires invasive research. 

9 (2) GREAT APE.—The term ‘‘great ape’’ means 

10 any individual of the following species: 

11 (A) Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). 

12 (B) Bonobo (Pan paniscus). 

13 (C) Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla or Gorilla 

14 beringei). 

15 (D) Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus or Pongo 

16 abelii). 

17 (E) Gibbon (Family Hylobatidae). 

18 (3) INVASIVE RESEARCH.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘invasive re20 search’’ means any research that may cause 

21 death, injury, pain, distress, fear, or trauma to 

22 a great ape, including— 

23 (i) the testing of any drug or inten24 tional exposure to a substance that may be 


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1 detrimental to the health or psychological 

2 well-being of a great ape; 

3 (ii) research that involves penetrating 

4 or cutting the body or removing body 

5 parts, restraining, tranquilizing, or anes6 thetizing a great ape; or 

7 (iii) isolation, social deprivation, or 

8 other experimental manipulations that may 

9 be detrimental to the health or psycho10 logical well-being of a great ape. 

11 (B) EXCLUSIONS.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘invasive 

13 research’’ does not include— 

14 (I) close observation of natural or 

15 voluntary behavior of a great ape, if 

16 the research does not require an anes17 thetic or sedation event to collect data 

18 or record observations; 

19 (II) the temporary separation of 

20 a great ape from the social group of 

21 the great ape, leaving and returning 

22 by the own volition of the great ape; 

23 (III) post-mortem examination of 

24 a great ape that was not killed for the 


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1 purpose of examination or research; 

2 and 

3 (IV) the administration of a 

4 physical exam by a licensed veteri5 narian or physician conducted for the 

6 well-being of the individual great ape. 

7 (ii) PHYSICAL EXAM.—A physical 

8 exam conducted for the well-being of an in9 dividual great ape, as described in clause 

10 (i)(IV), may include the collection of bio11 logical samples to further the well-being of 

12 the individual great ape, the social group 

13 of the great ape, or the great ape species. 

14 (4) PERMANENT RETIREMENT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘permanent 

16 retirement’’ means a situation in which— 

17 (i) a great ape is placed in a suitable 

18 sanctuary that will provide for the lifetime 

19 care of the great ape; and 

20 (ii) the great ape will no longer be 

21 used in invasive research. 

22 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘permanent 

23 retirement’’ does not include euthanasia. 

24 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 


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1 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership, 

2 trust, association, or any other private or not3 for-profit entity; 

4 (B) any officer, employee, agent, depart5 ment, or instrumentality of the Federal Govern6 ment, a State, municipality, or political subdivi7 sion of a State; or 

8 (C) any other entity subject to the jurisdic9 tion of the United States. 

10 (6) SUITABLE SANCTUARY.—The term ‘‘suit11 able sanctuary’’ means— 

12 (A) a sanctuary that meets or exceeds the 

13 standards of care for chimpanzees held in the 

14 federally supported sanctuary system, as de15 fined in part 9 of title 42, Code of Federal Reg16 ulations; or 

17 (B) a wildlife sanctuary that is a nonprofit 

18 organization that— 

19 (i) operates a place of refuge where 

20 abused, neglected, unwanted, impounded, 

21 abandoned, orphaned, displaced, or retired 

22 animals are provided care for the lifetime 

23 of the animal; 

24 (ii) does not conduct invasive research 

25 on animals; 


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1 (iii) does not conduct any commercial 

2 activity with animals, including, at a min3 imum, sale, trade, auction, lease, or loan of 

4 animals or animal parts, or use of animals 

5 in any manner in a for-profit business or 

6 operation; 

7 (iv) does not use animals for enter8 tainment purposes or in a traveling exhibit; 

9 (v) does not breed any animals, 

10 whether intentionally or by failing to use 

11 adequate birth control methods; and 

12 (vi) does not allow members of the 

13 public the opportunity to come into phys14 ical contact with the animals. 

15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS. 

16 (a) INVASIVE RESEARCH PROHIBITED.—No person 

17 shall conduct invasive research on a great ape. 

18 (b) HOUSING FOR INVASIVE RESEARCH PROHIB19 ITED.—No person shall possess, maintain, or house a 

20 great ape for the purpose of conducting invasive research. 

21 (c) FEDERAL FUNDING FOR INVASIVE RESEARCH

22 PROHIBITED.—No Federal funds may be used to conduct 

23 invasive research on a great ape or to support an entity 

24 conducting or facilitating invasive research on a great ape 

25 either within or outside of the United States. 


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1 (d) BREEDING FOR INVASIVE RESEARCH PROHIB2 ITED.—No person shall knowingly breed a great ape for 

3 the purpose of conducting or facilitating invasive research. 

4 (e) TRANSPORT FOR INVASIVE RESEARCH PROHIB5 ITED.—No person shall transport, move, deliver, receive, 

6 lease, rent, donate, purchase, sell, or borrow a great ape 

7 in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of con8 ducting or facilitating invasive research on a great ape. 

9 (f) TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP PROHIBITED.—No 

10 Federal agency may transfer ownership of a great ape to 

11 a non-Federal entity unless the entity is a suitable sanc12 tuary. 

13 (g) EXEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act limits or pre14 vents individualized medical care performed on a great ape 

15 by a licensed veterinarian or physician for the well-being 

16 of the great ape, including surgical procedures or chemical 

17 treatments for birth control. 

18 SEC. 5. RETIREMENT. 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later 

20 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

21 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall effectuate 

22 the permanent retirement of all great apes owned by the 

23 Federal Government that are being maintained in any fa24 cility for the purpose of breeding for, holding for, or con25 ducting invasive research. 


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1 SEC. 6. CIVIL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other penalties 

3 that may apply under law, any person who violates any 

4 provision of this Act shall be assessed a civil penalty of 

5 not more than $10,000 for each violation. 

6 (b) MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS.—Each day that a viola7 tion of this Act continues shall constitute a separate of8 fense. 

9 SEC. 7. GREAT APE SANCTUARY SYSTEM FUND. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab11 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

12 known as the ‘‘Great Ape Sanctuary System Fund’’ (re13 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), to be adminis14 tered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to 

15 be available without fiscal year limitation and not subject 

16 to appropriation, for construction, renovation, and oper17 ation of the sanctuary system established pursuant to sec18 tion 481C of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 287a–3a). 

20 (b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall consist of— 

22 (A) such amounts as are appropriated to 

23 the Fund under paragraph (2); and 

24 (B) such other amounts as are appro25 priated to the Fund under this Act. 


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1 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—There are appropriated 

2 to the Fund, out of funds of the Treasury not other3 wise appropriated, amounts equivalent to amounts 

4 collected as penalties and received in the Treasury 

5 under section 6. 

6 (c) PROHIBITION.—Amounts in the Fund may not be 

7 made available for any purpose other than a purpose de8 scribed in subsection (a). 

9 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

11 the end of each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 

12 2012, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

13 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con14 gress a report on the operation of the Fund during 

15 the fiscal year. 

16 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall include, for 

17 the fiscal year covered by the report, the following: 

18 (A) A statement of the amounts deposited 

19 into the Fund. 

20 (B) A description of the expenditures made 

21 from the Fund for the fiscal year, including the 

22 purpose of the expenditures. 

23 (C) Recommendations for additional au24 thorities to fulfill the purpose of the Fund. 


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1 (D) A statement of the balance remaining 

2 in the Fund at the end of the fiscal year. 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH.—The prohibition 

5 under section (4)(a) shall take effect— 

6 (1) on the date that is 3 years after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act for great apes assigned to 

8 an active protocol on the date of enactment of this 

9 Act; or 

10 (2) on the date of enactment of this Act for 

11 great apes not assigned to an active protocol on that 

12 date. 

13 (b) PROHIBITION ON HOUSING AND FUNDING.—The 

14 prohibitions under subsections (b) and (c) of section 4 

15 shall take effect on the date that is 3 years after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Any provision of this 

18 Act for which a specific effective date is not provided shall 

19 take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

21 In the event that any provision of this Act shall, for 

22 any reason, be held to be invalid or unenforceable in any 

23 respect, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect 

24 any other provision of this Act, and this Act shall be conVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:06 Apr 14, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S810.IS S810

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1 strued as if the invalid or unenforceable provision had 

2 never been included in this Act. 

Æ 


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