[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16738]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2001

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to make clear my concerns about the 
legislation before us today.
  I absolutely oppose the cloning of human beings for any purpose. Even 
the thought of human cloning is immoral, unethical and repugnant. I am 
concerned, however, that in our zeal to outlaw this abominable 
practice, we have overstepped necessary prohibitions and have acted to 
stop lifesaving research before it even begins.
  Today the House has failed to make the important distinction between 
reproductive cloning that creates a human being and the use of cloning 
research technology that does not create a human being. An outright ban 
on such research technology, which scientists believe can lead to 
treatments or cures for currently deadly diseases, is shortsighted in 
the extreme.
  Even more disturbing, H.R. 2505 goes further to ban the importation 
of any therapies created from cloning research technology. This means 
that any product or therapy developed anywhere in the world using this 
technology, could not be used by American patients. Consider for a 
moment a cure for Parkinson's, diabetes or ALS developed in the United 
Kingdom using cloning research technology--Americans would be banned, 
under penalty of prison and a $1 million fine, from using that therapy. 
That is wrong.
  Today, I supported an alternative that would have banned reproductive 
cloning while specifically protecting therapeutic research cloning by 
maintaining the status quo--private, strictly regulated research. This 
alternative, offered by Representative Greenwood, would have allowed 
scientists to pursue promising research that could show how to create 
stem cells from a person's own DNA, avoiding problems with immune 
system rejection. The alternative would have allowed scientists to 
study how stem cells become specialized, and thus provide insight into 
the mechanisms responsible for abnormal cells that result in some 
cancers and birth defects. It would have allowed research into how 
cells age and are regulated, potentially leading a treatment or a cure 
of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other degenerative diseases of the 
brain or spinal cord. Unfortunately, this alternative failed.
  The opportunities at the doorstep of medical research are 
unparalleled in our history. H.R. 2505, although well intentioned, 
simply goes too far.
  Mr. Speaker, it is possible to ban human cloning without stopping 
lifesaving research and that is what this House should do.

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