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Chapter III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY^ / 
A. Introductory Legislation 
When Congress recognized the importance of establishing in this country a 
national program of primate research facilities, it made the decision that 
the program would take the form of an as yet undetermined number of regional 
primate research centers. Because these would be regional in character, the 
initial amount of two million dollars was appropriated with authorization to 
use the money for non-matching construction, including purchase of land, as 
well as for the operation of the centers. These initial funds were for the 
establishment of one or two centers, and were used to establish one. 2./ 
Although this was the basis of the initial appropriation, the conviction 
that a larger national center (later called a "station") should be established 
persisted in the minds of the members of the Heart Council, the Heart Council 
committees and the National Advisory Committee for Primates (later the Primate 
Research Study Section). This conviction was reiterated at the hearings be- 
fore the House and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees by Dr. Watt and others. 
The result was that the seventh and final center to be established^.' was a 
national primate conditioning center, different from the others and later 
called the "National Center for Primate Biology, "it/ These seven centers 
(six regional and one national), taken together, were to constitute a 
national resource not only for research using subhuman primates as experimental 
animals in the various disciplines of medical research, but also for research 
on subhuman primates themselves. These seven centers were to constitute a 
national network of coordinated research facilities, the elements of which 
need not be identical, yet which would function as a coordinated whole. 
This national research resource was established to meet needs in the United 
States that would otherwise involve inordinate expense in primate colony main- 
tenance, needs not being met by other educational institutions, research 
laboratories, or commercial companies. The new program was directed toward 
meeting the needs of biomedical research on subhuman primates which could 
serve as experimental subjects in certain types of studies in which humans 
could not be used. In these centers, several different species of primates 
could be used for research in any scientific or clinical discipline, without 
any implied categorical restrictions. Particularly mentioned in the hearings 
were the rhesus monkey, the chimpanzee, and the baboon. It was expected that 
the rhesus monkey would be used most extensively but that as time went on the 
usefulness of a variety of other species would be explored. Each center would 
develop its own research orientation and species focus. Under these circum- 
stances, the animals would be studied throughout their life span. Some of 
\J Some of the more pertinent sections of the hearings of the House and 
Senate appropriations subcommittees are included in ref erence( 2_7) . 
y At Portland, Oregon, 
3/ With Fiscal Year 1962 funds. 
4/ Located at Davis, California. 
