FOVA Executive Committee Adrian Atizado Disabled American Veterans 202-314-5226 aatizado@dav.org August 25, 2017 The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen Chair Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Nita Lowey Ranking Member Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Lowey: Sarah Dean Paralyzed Veterans of America 202-416-7712 sarahd@pva.org Gary Ewart American Thoracic Society 202-296-9770 gewart@thoracic.org Heather Kelly, Ph.D. American Psychological Association 202-336-5932 hkelly@apa.org Matthew Shick Association of American Medical Colleges 202-862-6116 mshick@aamc.org Rick Starrs National Association of Veterans’ Research and Education Foundations 301-656-5005 rstarrs@navref.org Jennifer Zeitzer Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 301-634-7128 jzeitzer@faseb.org On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Friends of VA Health Care and Medical Research coalition — better known as FOVA — we want to express our strong concerns with a provision in the Defense, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Legislative Branch, and Energy and Water Development National Security Appropriations Act, 2018 that bars the VA Medical and Prosthetics Research program from conducting research using dogs. We believe implementation of this provision impedes progress on medical research. More than 25 years ago, FOVA was founded to help ensure that America’s veterans receive high-quality healthcare. Today, FOVA is a diverse coalition representing more than 80 national academic, medical, and scientific societies; voluntary health and patient advocacy groups; and veteran service organizations. Animal models play an essential role in advancing our understanding of human health and disease. Animal models are used to reveal and describe basic cell and tissue function, discover disease processes, understand disease progression and test interventions to treat disease. Specifically, dog studies have advanced our understanding of immunodeficiency, narcolepsy, metabolic disease, cancer, autoimmune function, vision and epilepsy. In short, animal models, including dogs, have helped advance science which has helped save human and animal lives. FOVA strongly supports efforts to reduce unnecessary use of animals in all scientific research. We further support ethical treatment of all animals, including dogs, where use of animals in research is appropriate. Currently, over 99% of all VA-sponsored animal studies are conducted on mice or rats. The percentage is consistent with lab animal use patterns across all U.S. research institutions. VA researchers only use dogs in research when the dog model is clearly the most suitable for the scientific study. There are currently 85 dogs used in VA-sponsored studies — approximately 0.05% of VA lab animal use. While we understand and appreciate the efforts to reduce use of dogs in animal research, we believe the policy included in the appropriations bill will impede scientific research and unnecessarily delay research advances for our nation’s veterans. Sincerely, The FOVA Executive Committee FY 2017 FOVA Endorsers AcademyHealth Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Alliance for Aging Research American Academy of Neurology American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine American Academy of Ophthalmology American Academy of Pain Medicine American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases American Association of Anatomists American Association of Colleges of Nursing American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy American Association of Neurological Surgeons American Association of Nurse Anesthetists American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons American College of Clinical Pharmacology American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine American Federation for Medical Research American Gastroenterological Association American Geriatrics Society American Heart Association American Liver Foundation American Lung Association American Military Retirees Association American Optometric Association American Pain Society American Physiological Society American Podiatric Medical Association American Psychiatric Association American Psychological Association American Society for Bone and Mineral Research American Society for Investigative Pathology American Society of Nephrology American Thoracic Society Arthritis Foundation Association for Clinical and Translational Science Association of Academic Physiatrists Association of American Medical Colleges Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry Association of VA Nurse Anesthetists Catholic War Veterans of the U.S.A., Inc. 2 Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science Congress of Neurological Surgeons Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America Digestive Disease National Coalition Disabled American Veterans Disabled Sports USA Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Endocrine Society FAIR Foundation Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology GBS CIDP Foundation International Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Interstitial Cystitis Association Men's Health Network Military Officers Association of America National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research National Alliance on Mental Illness National Alopecia Areata Foundation National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics National Association for Uniformed Services National Association of VA Dermatologists National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations National Multiple Sclerosis Society NephCure Kidney International Paralyzed Veterans of America Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation Parkinson’s Action Network Pulmonary Hypertension Association Research Society on Alcoholism Scleroderma Foundation Sleep Research Society Society for Investigative Dermatology Society for Women’s Health Research Society of General Internal Medicine Society of Military Widows The Clinical Research Forum The Marfan Foundation US Hereditary Angioedema Association Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US 3