    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 16, 1997]
    [Pages 607-609]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Apology to African-Americans on the Tuskegee Experiment
    May 16, 1997

        Ladies and gentlemen, on Sunday Mr. Shaw will celebrate his 95th
    birthday. I would like to recognize the other survivors who are here
    today and their families: Mr. Charlie Pollard is here; Mr. Carter
    Howard; Mr. Fred Simmons--Mr. Simmons just took his first airplane ride,
    and he reckons he's about 110 years old, so I think it's time for him to
    take a chance or two. [Laughter] I'm glad he did. And Mr. Frederick
    Moss, thank you, sir. I would also like to ask three family
    representatives who are here--Sam Doner is represented by his daughter,
    Gwendolyn Cox. Thank you, Gwendolyn. Ernest Hendon, who is watching in
    Tuskegee, is represented by his brother, North Hendon. Thank you, sir,
    for being here. And George Key is represented by his grandson,
    Christopher Monroe. Thank you, Chris.
        I also acknowledge the families, community leaders, teachers, and
    students watching today by satellite from Tuskegee. The White House is
    the people's house; we are glad to have all of you here today. I thank
    Dr. David Satcher for his role in this. I thank Congresswoman Waters and
    Congressman Hilliard; Congressman Stokes; the entire Congressional Black
    Caucus; Dr. Satcher; members of the Cabinet who are here, Secretary
    Herman, Secretary Slater; a great friend of freedom, Fred Gray, thank
    you for fighting this long battle all these long years.
        The eight men who are survivors of the syphilis study at Tuskegee
    are a living link to a time not so very long ago that many Americans
    would prefer not to remember but we dare not forget. It was a time when
    our Nation failed to live up to its ideals, when our Nation broke the
    trust with our people that is the very foundation of our democracy. It
    is not only in remembering that shameful past that we can make amends
    and repair our Nation, but it is in remembering that past that we can
    build a better present and a better future. And without remembering it,
    we cannot make amends, and we cannot go forward.
        So today America does remember the hundreds of men used in research
    without their knowledge and consent. We remember them and their family
    members. Men who were poor

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    and African-American, without resources and with few alternatives, they
    believed they had found hope when they were offered free medical care by
    the United States Public Health Service. They were betrayed.
        Medical people are supposed to help when we need care, but even once
    a cure was discovered, they were denied help, and they were lied to by
    their Government. Our Government is supposed to protect the rights of
    its citizens; their rights were trampled upon--40 years, hundreds of men
    betrayed, along with their wives and children, along with the community
    in Macon County, Alabama, the City of Tuskegee, the fine university
    there, and the larger African-American community. The United States
    Government did something that was wrong, deeply, profoundly, morally
    wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for
    all our citizens.
        To the survivors, to the wives and family members, the children, and
    the grandchildren, I say what you know: No power on Earth can give you
    back the lives lost, the pain suffered, the years of internal torment
    and anguish. What was done cannot be undone. But we can end the silence.
    We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eye and
    finally say, on behalf of the American people: What the United States
    Government did was shameful, and I am sorry. The American people are
    sorry--for the loss, for the years of hurt. You did nothing wrong, but
    you were grievously wronged. I apologize, and I am sorry that this
    apology has been so long in coming.
        To Macon County, to Tuskegee, to the doctors who have been wrongly
    associated with the events there, you have our apology, as well. To our
    African-American citizens, I am sorry that your Federal Government
    orchestrated a study so clearly racist. That can never be allowed to
    happen again. It is against everything our country stands for, and what
    we must stand against is what it was.
        So let us resolve to hold forever in our hearts and minds the memory
    of a time not long ago in Macon County, Alabama, so that we can always
    see how adrift we can become when the rights of any citizens are
    neglected, ignored, and betrayed. And let us resolve here and now to
    move forward together.
        The legacy of the study at Tuskegee has reached far and deep, in
    ways that hurt our progress and divide our Nation. We cannot be one
    America when a whole segment of our Nation has no trust in America. An
    apology is the first step, and we take it with a commitment to rebuild
    that broken trust. We can begin by making sure there is never again
    another episode like this one. We need to do more to ensure that medical
    research practices are sound and ethical and that researchers work more
    closely with communities.
        Today I would like to announce several steps to help us achieve
    these goals. First, we will help to build that lasting memorial at
    Tuskegee. The school founded by Booker T. Washington, distinguished by
    the renowned scientist George Washington Carver and so many others who
    advanced the health and well-being of African-Americans and all
    Americans, is a fitting site. The Department of Health and Human
    Services will award a planning grant so the school can pursue
    establishing a center for bioethics in research and health care. The
    center will serve as a museum of the study and support efforts to
    address its legacy and strengthen bioethics training.
        Second, we commit to increase our community involvement so that we
    may begin restoring lost trust. The study at Tuskegee served to sow
    distrust of our medical institutions, especially where research is
    involved. Since the study was halted, abuses have been checked by making
    informed consent and local review mandatory in federally funded and
    mandated research.
        Still, 25 years later, many medical studies have little African-
    American participation and African-American organ donors are few. This
    impedes efforts to conduct promising research and to provide the best
    health care to all our people, including African-Americans. So today I'm
    directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, to
    issue a report in 180 days about how we can best involve communities,
    especially minority communities, in research and health care. You must--
    every American group must be involved in medical research in ways that
    are positive. We have put the curse behind us; now we must bring the
    benefits to all Americans.
        Third, we commit to strengthen researchers' training in bioethics.
    We are constantly working on making breakthroughs in protecting the
    health of our people and in vanquishing diseases. But all our people
    must be assured that their rights and dignity will be respected as new
    drugs, treatments, and therapies are tested and

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    used. So I am directing Secretary Shalala to work in partnership with
    higher education to prepare training materials for medical researchers.
    They will be available in a year. They will help researchers build on
    core ethical principles of respect for individuals, justice, and
    informed consent, and advise them on how to use these principles
    effectively in diverse populations.
        Fourth, to increase and broaden our understanding of ethical issues
    and clinical research, we commit to providing postgraduate fellowships
    to train bioethicists especially among African-Americans and other
    minority groups. HHS will offer these fellowships beginning in September
    of 1998 to promising students enrolled in bioethics graduate programs.
        And finally, by Executive order I am also today extending the
    charter of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to October of
    1999. The need for this commission is clear. We must be able to call on
    the thoughtful, collective wisdom of experts and community
    representatives to find ways to further strengthen our protections for
    subjects in human research.
        We face a challenge in our time. Science and technology are rapidly
    changing our lives with the promise of making us much healthier, much
    more productive, and more prosperous. But with these changes, we must
    work harder to see that as we advance, we don't leave behind our
    conscience. No ground is gained and, indeed, much is lost if we lose our
    moral bearings in the name of progress.
        The people who ran the study at Tuskegee diminished the stature of
    man by abandoning the most basic ethical precepts. They forgot their
    pledge to heal and repair. They had the power to heal the survivors and
    all the others, and they did not. Today all we can do is apologize. But
    you have the power, for only you, Mr. Shaw, the others who are here, the
    family members who are with us in Tuskegee--only you have the power to
    forgive. Your presence here shows us that you have chosen a better path
    than your Government did so long ago. You have not withheld the power to
    forgive. I hope today and tomorrow every American will remember your
    lesson and live by it.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:26 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Tuskegee Experiment survivors
    Herman Shaw, who introduced the President, and Frederick Moss; and Fred
    D. Gray, attorney for participants in the Tuskegee Experiment, which was
    formally entitled ``Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro
    Male.'' The Executive order of May 16 extending the National Bioethics
    Advisory Commission is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.