Staff Reports
It’s hard to believe that American taxpayer dollars were ever spent propping up foreign animal testing laboratories, but a new bipartisan effort aims to put an end to this bizarre competition of cruelty. The aptly named Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas Act, or CARGO Act for short, is gaining traction in Congress. This legislative piece, spearheaded by Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls and Nevada Democrat Rep. Dina Titus, is a much-needed corrective to the National Institutes of Health, which somehow doled out over $2.2 billion to experiment on animals abroad between 2011 and 2021. That’s right—over two billion with a ‘B’ sent overseas while many Americans wonder how to pay their own bills.
The crux of the CARGO Act is to cut off funding for any foreign laboratory utilizing American tax dollars to conduct experiments on animals. It’s an effort to ensure that the money hard-working Americans pay in taxes isn’t used to subject innocent creatures to experiments that, quite frankly, might not even be effective. The bill is not just about stopping wasteful spending; it’s about sending a clear message: If the government has a pot of gold, let’s use it wisely and for our own people, not for some lab in a distant country with questionable accountability.
We were honored to testify at @GOPoversight @RepNancyMace hearing on tax-funded animal tests
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💸US gov wastes $20B/y on animal tests
💸$26M in active $ for transgender animal tests
💸$2B to foreign animal labs
💸US still funds 26 Chinese labs, incl tests on 100s of dogs pic.twitter.com/cjoJVmmAQU— White Coat Waste Project (@WhiteCoatWaste) February 7, 2025
The overwhelming consensus from supporters is that the NIH has proven itself rather incompetent in ensuring that these foreign labs adhere to even the most basic animal welfare standards. To make matters worse, the NIH doesn’t even bother verifying the claims made in grant applications or monitoring progress reports closely. So here we are, funding dubious experiments overseas, all while American labs could be fostering humane and innovative research methods. Why not redirect that funding where it will truly benefit the American people?
Rep. Nehls has framed the legislation as a return on investment for taxpayers, eloquently pointing out that there’s no sense in funneling money into animal torture on foreign soil. At the end of the day, if Americans work hard to earn their paychecks, their taxes should work for them—plain and simple. Rep. Titus echoes a similar sentiment, arguing that many NIH overseas programs lack genuine oversight. Yet these foreign experiments are still cashing in on taxpayer dollars, allowing for the exploitation of animals without so much as a proper checkup.
In an unexpected twist, even the notorious People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has found common ground with this legislation, endorsing it as a necessary step toward ending animal suffering. It’s a rare moment where conservatives and progressives agree on a policy that will actually do some good—redirecting funds to more effective, humane research methods right here at home. After all, isn’t it about time that America starts focusing on its own backyard rather than funding questionable animal research around the globe?
