A humane solution

Dear Friend,

I wanted you to know that I am joining Senators Tammy Duckworth and John Kennedy to introduce the Chimp Sanctuary Act, which would prohibit the housing of chimpanzees at U.S. Air Force installations starting 180 days after enactment. It would also require any chimpanzees currently housed by the Air Force to be transported to Chimp Haven, the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary, in Louisiana.

The Alamogordo Primate Facility at Holloman Air Force Base still has 34 retired chimpanzees in its custody who used to be subject to National Institutes of Health (NIH) biomedical research. Throughout my time in Congress, I have been advocating for a humane and permanent solution for these chimpanzees, so they can live out the rest of their lives in a non-laboratory sanctuary environment.

When I was serving in the House, I called on the NIH to permanently retire the 202 chimpanzees at the Alamogordo Primate Facility, and I sent a letter to then NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins urging him to find a permanent solution that would provide the chimpanzees with a humane living environment. Moving the chimps away from the Air Force Base and to a sanctuary setting would also save taxpayer dollars.

We have a moral responsibility to prevent senseless cruelty to animals. We must provide these chimpanzees with the best possible care for the remainder of their lives.

Sincerely,

MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator