[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2560 
the ``Human Cloning Prohibition Act.'' This legislation prohibits human 
cloning, and it makes it unlawful for any person to ship, mail, 
transport, or receive the product of human somatic cell nuclear 
transfer technology knowing that it will be used for human cloning. 
H.R. 2650 also makes it illegal for any person to initiate a pregnancy 
to facilitate human cloning.
  Mr. Speaker, by a wide margin Americans believe that human cloning is 
wrong and immoral. It is also highly inefficient. More than 90% of 
cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. In addition to low 
success rates, cloned animals tend to have compromised immune system 
and higher rates of infections, tumors, and other disorders.
  Studies conducted in Japan show that cloned mice live in poor health 
and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died 
young, and many of them were abnormally large. The American Medical 
Association (AMA) and the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science (AAAS) have issued formal public statements advising against 
human reproductive cloning.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 2560 because it reinforces the views and 
values of the American people. Human beings should be born, not cloned. 
Bringing a child into this world should be a consecrated act of grace; 
not a clinical or commercial enterprise. It is one thing to conduct 
research to find life-saving cures. It is quite another to try and 
create life in the laboratory. I support the former and oppose the 
latter.
  For these reasons, I support H.R. 2560 and urge all of my colleagues 
to join me in voting for its passage.

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