Senator Rand Paul, M.D. (R-KY)
Years of Service: 2009–Present
Tenure: 111th–119th Congresses
Dr. Rand Paul, one half of the first father-son duo ever to serve concurrently in separate chambers of Congress, is the most libertarian-leaning Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in modern times. An eye surgeon educated at Duke University Medical School, Paul was first elected in the Tea Party midterm wave of 2010, and since then he has built a legislative record on animal welfare that reflects his commitment to a broader laissez-faire philosophy.
Paul’s first bill to become law was the FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA) 2.0, which passed the U.S. Senate unanimously and was signed into law by President Biden as part of a larger package at the end of 2022. Lifting a 1930s-era mandate in federal law that required extensive animal tests on all developmental new drug candidates despite the availability of superior animal-free alternative testing methods, FDAMA 2.0 was the most significant standalone federal bill to reform animal testing since the 1960s. Link to Sen. Paul’s floor speech on FDA Modernization Act 2.0 – Animal testing mandate eliminated – Hesperos Inc.
Paul has also co-sponsored other biomedical research policies that would benefit animals, including the Worldwide Animal Testing Compliance and Harmonization (WATCH) Act, which would apply U.S.-level animal welfare standards to overseas laboratories receiving federal funds; the Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act, which would prohibit the National Institutes of Health from funding animal research conducted outside the U.S.; and the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, a follow-up measure to ensure that the statutory reforms of his landmark FDAMA 2.0 are fully implemented by regulators.
In 2021, Paul also spearheaded an oversight letter signed by six U.S. senators to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) posing questions about federally funded experiments on dogs whose vocal cords had been severed for nonmedical reasons.
In the 119th Congress, Paul was an original cosponsor of a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to override a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that called for an unprecedented killing of nearly half a million native North American owls in the Pacific Northwest. He also voted in favor of a procedural motion to advance that resolution on the Senate floor.
For many consecutive Congresses, Paul has also been a co-sponsor of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, which would reform agricultural “checkoff” programs, which use mandatory dues from small livestock producers to fund trade associations that often lobby against animal welfare priorities, in addition to incentivizing the government to promote greater consumption of animal-derived products.
Senator Paul allowed a series of animal-welfare measures to pass the Senate and to be signed into law, including the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (2029), the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (2021), and the Big Cat Public Safety Act (2022).
Overall, Paul’s record on animal welfare reflects his broader interest in reducing federal spending, removing regulatory burdens, and lifting unnecessary government mandates that harm people and animals alike. He has become more alert to animal welfare concerns over time, become more active on animal-testing issues more recently and not voting against or placing “legislative holds” on some major animal welfare legislation as he did earlier in his Senate service.
Notable Actions & Cosponsorships:
119th Congress
✅ Voted “Aye” on motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 69 (Senate Roll Call Vote 597), a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to “Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California”.
✅ Cosponsor of S.355, FDA Modernization Act 3.0, to direct FDA to publish a final rule to implement a law enacted in December 2022 that eliminated a Depression-era requirement for animal testing in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 USC § 355) and allows for innovative 21st-century human-relevant test methods where appropriate.
✅ Cosponsor of S.J.Res. 69, to nullify the FWS Plan to Kill 450,000 Barred Owls across 24 million acres, including 14 national parks and 17 national forests, and is now going to be used as a “mitigation measure” to allow incidental take of spotted owls – turning this plan into an effort to shoot barred owls and to kill spotted owls by cutting down the trees they require to survive.
✅ Cosponsor of S. 1848, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act to reform agricultural checkoff programs, which funnel mandatory dues from small farmers to trade groups that lobby against animal welfare policies.
✅ Cosponsor of S. 1802, the Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act to prohibit the National Institutes of Health from funding any activity or program that uses live animals in research outside the United States.
118th Congress
✅ Cosponsor of S. 5046, FDA Modernization Act 3.0, to direct FDA to publish a final rule to implement a law enacted in December 2022 that eliminated a Depression-era requirement for animal testing in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 USC § 355) and allows for innovative 21st-century human-relevant test methods where appropriate.
✅ Cosponsor of S. 2397, the Worldwide Animal Testing Compliance and Harmonization (WATCH) Act, to subject foreign laboratories that receive federal funds and that conduct animal research to U.S. animal welfare regulations.
✅ Cosponsor of S. 557, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act to reform agricultural checkoff programs, which funnel mandatory dues from small farmers to trade groups that lobby against animal welfare policies.
117th Congress
✅ Lead Sponsor of S. 5002, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, to eliminate a Depression-era requirement for animal testing in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 USC § 355) and allows for innovative 21st-century human-relevant test methods where appropriate.
✅ Cosponsor of S. 2861, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act to reform agricultural checkoff programs, which funnel mandatory dues from small farmers to trade groups that lobby against animal welfare policies.
✅ Lead on a letter signed by six U.S. senators to the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) inquiring about reports that the agency had funded animal research that involved cutting dogs’ vocal cords, noting that American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines recommend against devocalization except in the most extreme cases.
116th Congress
✅ Cosponsor of S. 935, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act to reform agricultural checkoff programs, which funnel mandatory dues from small farmers to trade groups that lobby against animal welfare policies.
115th Congress
✅ Cosponsor of S. 741, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act to reform agricultural checkoff programs, which funnel mandatory dues from small farmers to trade groups that lobby against animal welfare policies.
❌ Voted “Aye” on H.J.Res. 69, a Congressional Review Act (Senate Roll Call Vote 92) resolution to overturn an Obama administration rule prohibiting killing bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens, baiting bears with food to shoot them at close range, and aerial shooting of wolves and other predators. SJR 69 passed 52 – 47. A “Nay” vote is the pro-animal position because it would have retained the rule forbidding inhumane and unsporting predator-killing practices on our national wildlife refuges in Alaska.
112th Congress
✅ Voted “Aye” on the Vitter Amendment (S.Amdt. 2363) to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, S. 3240 (Senate Roll Call Vote 154). The Vitter amendment makes it a federal crime to attend or bring a minor to an animal fighting venture. It passed 88–11. An “Aye” vote is the pro-animal position because forbidding attendance at staged animal fights.