A bipartisan bill is targeting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and proposes to ban them from funding experiments that use animals in laboratories outside of the United States, according to The Daily Caller. The Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas Act of 2023 (CARGO Act) is sponsored by both Democratic Rep. Dina Titus and Republican Rep. Troy Nehls.
The bill will effectively ban taxpayer money from going to foreign experiments on animals. Over the last ten years, from 2011 to 2021, the NIH reportedly sent a total of $2.2 billion to 200 foreign organizations spanning 45 different countries, such as Brazil, China, Columbia, and Russia. Nehls told the outlet that 90 percent of the money sent to these foreign organizations was never audited by the NIH. In addition, he notes, the NIH does not look at the laboratories that they send money to, creating an uncertain situation that might see abused and tortured animals or a simple waste of American money.
Titus reiterated the sentiment and called the lack of discretion a failure. The bill has garnered the support of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The organization’s vice president came forward to commend both lawmakers for their efforts in stopping animal cruelty.
The bill comes as some of the aforementioned countries receiving taxpayer money for research and experiments are cooperating to overthrow the U.S. dollar’s dominance. BRICS is an informal alliance composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. They are meeting with the mission to challenge the United States’ role in global trade and consequently remove the dollar as the world’s main currency.
Brazil’s new far-left President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reportedly addressed the New Development Bank (NDB) in Shanghai and challenged Western-led institutions. For the time being, the U.S. dollar makes up 58 percent of the world’s foreign exchange reserves, but that number is quickly dwindling.
