[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18105-S18106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION

 Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, the President recently announced 
the creation of a National Bioethics Advisory Commission [NBAC]. 
Because Congress was in recess when this announcement was made, I would 
like to take this opportunity to share the good news with my colleagues 
and to reiterate the importance of this announcement.
  There has long been a need for an independent forum for the 
discussion of bioethical policy issues. In fact, the catalyst for the 
President's announcement of the creation of the NBAC was the release of 
a report on human radiation experiments which took place during the 
cold war. These federally sponsored tests included releasing 
radioactive substances into the atmosphere near residential populations 
and injecting pregnant women with radioactive iron to determine its 
effect on the baby. In many cases, the tests were conducted without the 
knowledge of the participants. The NBAC will provide a forum for the 
reevaluation of Federal human research standards to ensure that this 
never happens again.

[[Page S 18106]]

  There is no question that any experiments conducted with human 
subjects must be done with full disclosure and a complete examination 
of the ethical questions involved. But today, research scientists are 
experimenting with life forms on a more subtle level where the 
guidelines may not be as patently clear. In their quest to understand 
the human body and to conquer disease and disability, scientists have 
turned to the study of the building blocks of living organisms through 
genetic research and biotechnology.
  Genetic research has enormous potential implications for society. For 
here we are dealing with the very foundations of humanity and nature. 
Scientists are now able to identify and manipulate gene sequences, and 
have even begun to create genetically altered life forms. Over the past 
decade, it has become increasingly apparent that these dramatic 
advances in biotechnology have outdistanced the legal and ethical 
parameters that we have in place to deal with them.
  Society may reap great benefits from these advances, and other 
discoveries yet to be made by modern science. But history has taught us 
that new technologies often bring with them costs as well as benefits. 
Until now, there has been no mechanism through which to examine the 
moral and ethical implications of this new technology or to weigh the 
potential costs to society.
  The creation of a National Bioethics Advisory Board is the 
culmination of many years of efforts to establish such a mechanism. In 
the 103d Congress, I introduced S. 1042, legislation which would have 
established a national Biomedical Ethics Advisory Board located within 
the Department of Health and Human Services. This bill and the two 
hearings held on this subject last session served to stimulate public 
dialogue on the need for such a body and established a framework on 
which the newly created NBAC was based. The administration, especially 
Dr. Jack Gibbons, worked closely with me in developing their proposal.
  The NBAC will be an independent body comprised of 15 members 
appointed by the President and are likely to be experts from the fields 
of philosophy, theology, social and behavioral science, law, medicine, 
and biological research. They will be charged with reviewing the 
ethical and moral issues that arise in biomedicine including research 
involving human subjects, and issues in the management and use of 
genetic information, including human gene patenting.
  The addition of specific language establishing genetic information 
and gene patenting issues as a priority for the commission was 
particularly important to me, and one which I strongly encouraged the 
administration to make. Each year since 1987, I have introduced 
legislation providing for a moratorium on the patenting of living 
organisms. I have done so because I firmly believe that it is the 
responsibility of Congress to carefully consider the broad 
ramifications of the technologies it encourages through patenting. I 
believe that this newly created National Bioethics Advisory Commission 
will provide a suitable structure for evaluating the ethical, 
environmental, and economic considerations of such patents.
  Let me emphasize that no one should construe my vigorous support of 
this commission as a desire to dampen the drive to discover treatments 
and cures. I am firmly committed to the advancement of scientific and 
medical research and have been one of the leading proponents of Federal 
biomedical research funding in Congress. My desire is simply to ensure 
that the difficult social and ethical issues surrounding this research 
are raised and taken into account as public officials struggle to 
establish appropriate policies and practices relating to biomedicine.
  The President should be commended for responding to the critical 
report on human radiation testing by establishing the NBAC to ensure 
that the rights of human research subjects are examined and protected 
in the future. And, by including genetic research and patenting issues, 
he has ensured that Congress and the administration will be equipped to 
deal with the profound ethical questions relating to this rapidly 
advancing field as they arise.
  I am proud to have been a part of the effort to make the NBAC a 
reality and look forward to it serving as a vital link between the 
scientific community, the Government, and society as we face the 
difficult ethical questions which accompany our drive to treat and cure 
disease and disability through biomedical research.

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