Congressperson Receives PETA’s First Courage in Leadership Award
Through years of working closely with PETA, U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California has established herself as one of the most important leaders on the national level for animal protection. Despite countless demands on her time, she has never lost sight of the most vulnerable among us. So PETA was pleased to present Rep. Roybal-Allard with the first-ever Courage in Leadership Award at a ceremony held in her honor Tuesday at our Los Angeles office in the Bob Barker Building.
Rep. Roybal-Allard sits on the Appropriations Committee, which funds virtually all federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and she has been happy to use her position as leverage to pressure NIH to stop experiments in which infant monkeys are taken away from their mothers at birth and intentionally psychologically traumatized. She confronted NIH in writing about the much-criticized and wasteful experiments that have been condemned by primate experts, including Dr. Jane Goodall. And after winning the bipartisan support of other members of Congress and with PETA’s help, she added language to the bill funding NIH that would—for the first time—put all of the agency’s primate experiments under the microscope.
I am proud to be recognized by PETA for my work on behalf of the humane treatment of animals, particularly my efforts to improve accountability for animal welfare and put a stop to wasteful government spending that exploits animals. Constituents of all ages, ethnicities, genders, and political persuasions agree with me that we must speak up for our friends throughout the animal kingdom who have no voice. I am proud to represent my constituents on this very important issue.
—Rep. Roybal-Allard
Rep. Roybal-Allard also recently added language to a bill funding the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would essentially end federal licensing for so-called “Class B” animal dealers who sell lost, stolen, and abandoned dogs and cats to laboratories for use in experiments.
She has pushed federal officials to take action in behalf of the long-suffering elephant Nosey, has helped strengthen penalties for animal fighting and other violations of federal animal welfare laws, is supporting a bill to end the abuse of animals in military training, and was one of the first members of Congress to help set up a federal sanctuary for chimpanzees retired from laboratories.
Use our form to urge your members of Congress to join Rep. Roybal-Allard in working to halt NIH’s cruel and wasteful experiments on monkeys.
Note: PETA supports animal rights and opposes all forms of animal exploitation and educates the public on those issues. PETA does not directly or indirectly participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office or any political party.
