The AAMC Oct. 16 joined 60 other institutions and organizations on a letter of support to Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) for introducing the Enforcement Transparency Act of 2015 (H.R. 3136), and to urge all House members to co-sponsor the bill.
This bipartisan bill would require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to publish the guidelines that are used to calculate penalties for violating the Animal Welfare Act. In addition, it would require the USDA to update the guidelines on its website every three months and publish the updates in the Federal Register.
The community letter, organized by the National Association for Biomedical Research, also shed light on the confusion associated with the current USDA process for formulating penalties and called for more transparency and accountability.