[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 12, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, earlier this week I modified my bill, the 
Human Cloning Prohibition Act, S. 2076. I originally introduced this 
bill in an attempt to forge a consensus on what I thought was a 
straight-forward concept, the banning of reproductive cloning or the 
cloning of a human being. When I introduced the legislation, I stated: 
``It is a simple bill, but it reflects my view and a view that is held 
by almost everyone. . . . My legislation makes it illegal to clone a 
human being and imposes strict penalties against anyone who violates 
this prohibition.''
  However, in recent weeks those who oppose my legislation have 
interpreted the language of my bill in a manner that is not consistent 
with the intent of the bill. They argue that my bill as originally 
introduced would allow a cloned embryo to be implanted into the uterus 
and ``harvested'' at some point prior to birth.
  I do not believe the language of my bill allows that, and it is 
certainly not the intent of the bill. But, in order that no one can 
misinterpret the intent of my bill, I am making an adjustment in the 
bill language. The revised language will define human cloning as 
``implanting or attempting to implant the product of somatic cell 
nuclear transfer, or any other cloning technique, into a uterus or the 
functional equivalent of a uterus.'' It makes it unlawful for ``any 
person to conduct or attempt to conduct human cloning.'' The bill 
retains the strict penalties against violators that were present in the 
original version.
  My legislation is silent on the matter of therapeutic cloning or what 
some call ``regenerative medicine.'' I understand that this is a topic 
that needs thoughtful discussion and debate. It is a subject that is 
addressed in other bills now before the Senate.
  I respect those who support the Brownback bill and wish to prohibit 
what is called somatic cell nuclear transplantation or the cloning of 
stem cells. This is a difficult subject and there is plenty of room for 
thoughtful disagreement in the debate. But I don't believe that we 
should prohibit the promising research that could lead to cures for 
diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease and more. 
I agree with Nancy Reagan, former President Ford, Orrin Hatch, and 
others that this kind of regenerative medicine conducted under strict 
guidelines and controls can offer great hope to tens of millions of 
Americans and can save lives.
  The debate on that matter is left to other legislation. My bill 
applies only to the issue of prohibiting the cloning of a human being 
and I hope that this change in the language will no longer leave room 
for those who are opponents to misinterpret or misunderstand its 
intent.

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