HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 291 
mess cleaned up; we need, and can show the need, for some permanent ma- 
chinery to prevent the mess from recurring time and again. We need a perma- 
nent safeguard from a source of unnecessary expense which has been demon- 
strated to occur for specific reasons, and which must then tend to recur so long 
as those reasons exist, and so long as nothing is done to prevent it. Hence, I 
fully agree with Representative Header, that sound commonsense and the in- 
terest of our country demand action; however, I simply do not agree, with 
special reference to the field of animal experimentation, which has been shown 
to have a special weakness in this direction as evidenced by the example of the 
monkey experiments and others, that a correction of what is past will, without 
more, correct the future. It seems to me that this is evident enough, simply 
from the fact that, in response to the inquiries of Senator Byrd, Representative 
Harris, and others, on the subject of the monkey experiments, the Department 
of Health, Education, and Welfare defended and praised the project, and indi- 
cated that it fully approved the plan to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, 
over a period of years, on further research into the affectional relationships of 
the monkey and its mother. I therefore ask you, as my Senator, whether I and 
the other taxpayers of this country cannot have some permanent form of protec- 
tion from this, and all similar, forms of costly nonsense, masquerading as valid 
scientific research. 
Nor do I believe that I am, in making this suggestion, myself guilty of ad- 
vocating a very large expenditure, for the machinery already exists to make such 
a procedure practical and not too costly. The Smithsonian Institution, on behalf 
of the Government, already collects and collates data on every medical research 
experiment carried out in this country, and many foreign countries, under the 
auspices of any recognized institution of learning. ( As a matter of fact, of late 
years the Smithsonian has employed a modern, large, high-speed computer to 
help it to handle this enormous task. It gives me, at least, some realization of 
the vastness of the expenditure with which we are dealing, when I think that 
with every click of that huge machine, whose cycling time is measured in micro- 
seconds, information is being added about some project whose cost cannot be 
less, in dollars, than four significant figures, and may run to five, or six, or seven 
zeros after the dollar sign and before the decimal point. Yet, I am told that the 
machine works full time on this project of cataloging medical research projects.) 
SUGGESTION COULD SAVE MILLIONS OF ANIMALS 
With such facilities already in existence, surely only a fraction of the potential 
savings to the taxpayer would cover the cost of such a review board as I have 
ventured to suggest. The saving in the health of the American people (to take 
the suggestion of the American Medical Association), the saving in time which 
could be devoted to work crucial to the national defense, and, not the least con- 
cern to me, the saving of perhaps millions of animals who suffer to no real pur- 
pose whatsoever, would be an additional benefit whose value cannot even be 
guessed at. 
May I say in closing that while my aim has been to be impartially and genuinely 
helpful to you, without respect to my own most immediate concerns, yet I hope 
that such a procedure as that suggested would, in its very nature, bring with it 
the added blessing of at least some rethinking of the question of the basic 
morality involved in animal experimentation in general. I pray that it may be 
so, both as a citizen of the United States and as a person long concerned with the 
specific issue of whether blessings can come from the sufferings imposed on God’s 
other creatures, however humble. 
Faithfully yours, 
Robert A. Russell, 
President, the National Anti-Vivisection Society. 
Mr. Roberts. Mr. Andrews, I appreciate your feeling and the fact 
that you are not alone in that you did not have sufficient time to bring 
other witnesses. I recognize the importance of this hearing but I 
might tell you that this hearing has not been an easy one to arrange. 
Mr. Andrews. We understand that and we understand the pressure 
on Congress. 
Mr. Roberts. Not only the pressure on the Congress but the pressure 
on the chairman of this subcommittee, because we have had a very 
busy schedule this year. 
