[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 916 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 916

  To prohibit the expenditure of Federal funds to conduct or support 
  research on the cloning of humans, and to express the sense of the 
Congress that other countries should establish substantially equivalent 
                             restrictions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2003

 Mr. Stearns introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Science, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the expenditure of Federal funds to conduct or support 
  research on the cloning of humans, and to express the sense of the 
Congress that other countries should establish substantially equivalent 
                             restrictions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Human Cloning Research Prohibition 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST EXPENDITURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR RESEARCH 
              ON CLONING HUMANS.

    (a) Prohibition.--None of the funds made available in any Federal 
law may be obligated or expended to conduct or support any project of 
research that includes the use of human somatic cell nuclear transfer 
technology to produce an oocyte that is undergoing cell division toward 
development of a fetus.
    (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``human somatic cell nuclear transfer'' means 
        transferring the nucleus of a human somatic cell into an oocyte 
        from which the nucleus has been removed or rendered inert; and
            (2) the term ``somatic cell'' means a cell of an embryo, 
        fetus, child, or adult which is not and will not become a sperm 
        or egg cell.

SEC. 3. REVIEW.

     The Director of the National Science Foundation shall enter into 
an agreement with the National Research Council for a review of the 
implementation of this Act. Not later than 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Director shall transmit to the Congress 
a report containing the results of that review, including the 
conclusions of the National Research Council on--
            (1) the impact that the implementation of this Act has had 
        on research; and
            (2) recommendations for any appropriate changes to this 
        Act.

SEC. 4. PROTECTED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

     Nothing in this Act shall restrict other areas of scientific 
research not specifically prohibited by this Act, including important 
and promising work that involves--
            (1) the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer or other 
        cloning technologies to clone molecules, DNA, cells other than 
        human embryo cells, or tissues; or
            (2) the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer techniques to 
        create animals other than humans.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INTERNATIONAL PROHIBITION.

     It is the sense of the Congress that each foreign country should 
establish a prohibition substantially equivalent to the prohibition 
established in section 2(a).
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