 Senator Brownback Introduces Bill to Ban All Human Cloning Source: Associated Press; January 29, 2003 Washington, DC -- On the heels of President Bush's call for a ban on all forms of human cloning in his State of the Union address, pro-life Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), introduced a bill to ban all human cloning on Wednesday. The bill would ban cloning that creates human embryos simply for the purpose of destroying them in scientific research. Brownback's legislation is identical to a bill now before the House of Representatives-- the Weldon-Stupak bill previous passed in the last Congress. Senators backing competing legislation that would have banned reproductive human cloning but allowed cloning for scientific research had intended to introduce legislation two weeks ago, but abandoned their plans at the last minute. Pro-life groups called their legislation a "fake" cloning ban because it allowed the life-destructive research to continue. The president plans to meet with senators over the next few weeks to shore up support. The loss last year of Senate seats held by Democrats Jean Carnahan, Max Cleland and Paul Wellstone are thought to have strengthened Brownback's chances. Proponents of a total ban believe they picked up four votes in their favor during last year's congressional elections, but may still fall short of the majority they need to pass the legislation. "This president can walk and chew gum at the same time, and he'll make cloning a priority, despite what's happening in Iraq," said a spokesman for Brownback. Senate Committee Debates Human Cloning Ban Source: Cybercast News Service; January 30, 2003 Washington, DC -- At a previously scheduled hearing, members of Congress Wednesday debated the president's State of the Union address call for Congress to ban human cloning. "Because no human life should be started or ended as the object of an experiment," said President George W. Bush Tuesday night, "I ask you to set a high standard for humanity, and pass a law against all human cloning." "I, along with the president and the vast majority of Americans, do not believe that we should create human life just to destroy it," pro-life Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) said at a hearing of the Senate commerce subcommittee on science, technology and space, which he chairs. "Yet this is exactly what is being proposed by those who support cloning in some circumstances." But pro-cloning Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) claimed Wednesday that opponents of embryonic stem cell research have misused the word "cloning" in their opposition to the procedure. "I am totally opposed to human cloning. The word 'cloning' has been used with 'reproductive cloning,' which is a misnomer," Specter said. "It is really nuclear transplantation." Pro-cloning Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said he also opposes the use of "somatic cell nuclear transplantation" to create a cloned human baby. "If, on the other hand, nuclear transplantation can lead to another source of stem cells, I think we should take advantage of this technology," Hatch argued, "as long as we develop adequate ethical standards." But Brownback believes it is his colleagues who are mincing words. "Some want to begin cloning humans," Brownback alleged, "they just don't want to call it that. "Some who support human cloning would have society believe there are two different types of cloning: so-called 'reproductive cloning' and so-called 'therapeutic cloning,'" he continued. "All cloning is reproductive by nature. By that, I mean all cloning produces another human life." Pro-life Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), a practicing medical doctor, confirmed Brownback's assertion. "All human cloning begins with the production of a cloned embryo," Weldon explained. "Reproductive cloning involves implanting a cloned embryo into a woman's uterus," he continued. "Cloning research, 'therapeutic' cloning, somatic cell nuclear transfer, nuclear transfer, or whatever you choose to call it, involves taking that same embryo and destroying it to take its cells." Weldon noted that those who support so-called "therapeutic cloning" have not proven the safety or effectiveness of the procedure. "We do not allow drug companies to go out there and start experimenting on human subjects with their drugs until they have first demonstrated success in animal models," he observed. "Why some would want to skip this process and go directly to human cloning is beyond me." Weldon introduced more than 80 peer-reviewed medical journal articles from 2002 and 2003 documenting the use of adult stem cell research in the treatment of diseases and disorders, including the case of a 59-year-old man whose Parkinson's disease was cured as a result of the medical advances. To date, there has been no documented success in treating or curing disease using any findings from embryonic stem cell research. Weldon also introduced records of the few animal trials of embryonic stem cell research that have been conducted, some of which resulted in serious deformities and deaths of the animal subjects. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) believes "whoever wins the battle of the definitions will probably win" the debate. "It is very important that we establish that cloning is cloning," he argued. "Dolly [the sheep] was a clone, [the result of] a somatic cell nuclear transfer. That's how Dolly was created and everybody would recognize that as cloning." Ensign said the final decision of Congress must include a careful analysis of "how we view ourselves as human beings." "When we're starting to mess with the genetic make-up of people," he concluded, "the potential for evil is so great it is almost unimaginable." Weldon and pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) have introduced legislation in the House to outlaw all forms of human somatic cell nuclear transfer research. Brownback and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Members who attended or testified in favor of a full ban on human cloning: Representatives Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA); Committee Members - Senators Brownback (R-KS), Ensign (R-NV), Sununu (R-NH), Fitzgerald (R-IL). Members who attended or testified in favor of human cloning for research: Testified - Specter (R-PA) and Hatch (R-UT); Committee Members - Senators Wyden (R-OR), Nelson (D-FL) Click here for Senator Brownback's opening statement Click here for Rep. Weldon's testimony
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