    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [June 9, 1997]
    [Pages 710-711]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing Proposed Human Cloning Prohibition Legislation
    June 9, 1997

        Thank you very much, Dr. Shapiro, for that fine set of remarks and
    for your report. I thank all the members of the President's Committee of
    Advisers. I'd also like to thank Secretary Shalala and Dr. Varmus for
    being here today, along with the President's Adviser on Science and
    Technology, Dr. Jack Gibbons. And I thank Congressman Brown and
    Congresswoman Morella for being here and for their interest in this
    important issue. But mostly let me say again, I am profoundly grateful
    to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission and to Dr. Harold Shapiro
    for preparing this report on a difficult topic in a short period of
    time, requiring an extensive inquiry. Your commitment and your courage
    in breaking new ground in policy is deeply appreciated.
        As the Vice President has said and all of us know, we live in an era
    of breathtaking scientific discovery. More and more, our future in the
    world depends upon advances in science and technology. And more and
    more, the scientific community will influence the course of the future
    and the lives that our children will lead in the new century that is
    upon us.
        As I said in my commencement address at Morgan State University last
    month, our scientific explorations must be guided by our commitment to
    human values, to the good of society, to our basic sense of right and
    wrong. Nothing makes the necessity of that moral obligation more clear
    than the troubling possibility that these new animal-cloning techniques
    could be used to create a child. That is why I acted in March to ban the
    use of Federal funds for cloning human beings and to urge the private
    sector to observe the ban voluntarily while we initiated a national
    dialog on the risks and the responsibilities of such a possibility, and
    why I asked this Commission to issue this report.
        For 3 months, the Commission has rigorously explored the scientific,
    moral, and spiritual dimensions of human cloning. It has talked to

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    leading scientists and religious leaders, to philosophers and families,
    to patient advocates and to the general public. From many opinions and
    beliefs, as Dr. Shapiro said, one unanimous conclusion has emerged:
    Attempting to clone a human being is unacceptably dangerous to the child
    and morally unacceptable to our society.
        I believe strongly that this conclusion reflects a national
    consensus, and I believe personally that it is the right thing to do.
    Today I am sending legislation to the Congress that prohibits anyone in
    either public or private sectors from using these techniques to create a
    child. Until the day I sign the legislation into law, the ban on Federal
    funding I declared in March will remain in effect. And once again, I
    call upon the private sector to refrain voluntarily from using this
    technology to attempt to clone a human being.
        I want to make clear that there is nothing inherently immoral or
    wrong with these new techniques--used for proper purposes. In fact, they
    hold the promise of revolutionary new medical treatments and life-saving
    cures to diseases like cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and cancer, to better
    crops and stronger livestock. This legislation, therefore, will not
    prohibit the use of these techniques to clone DNA in cells, and it will
    not ban the cloning of animals. What the legislation will do is to
    reaffirm our most cherished belief about the miracle of human life and
    the God-given individuality each person possesses. It will ensure that
    we do not fall prey to the temptation to replicate ourselves at the
    expense of those beliefs and the lives of innocent children we would
    produce.
        Finally, the legislation will ensure that we continue the national
    dialog we began 3 months ago and will provide the Nation and the
    Congress another opportunity to take a look at this issue in 5 years. To
    make sure that all our voices are heard as we explore human cloning, the
    legislation specifically requires the National Bioethics Advisory
    Commission to continue its study and report back in 4\1/2\ years. At
    that time, we will decide how to proceed based on what has been
    accomplished and agreed upon and debated and discovered in the
    intervening period.
        Banning human cloning reflects our humanity. It is the right thing
    to do. Creating a child through this new method calls into question our
    most fundamental beliefs. It has the potential to threaten the sacred
    family bonds at the very core of our ideals and our society. At its
    worst, it could lead to misguided and malevolent attempts to select
    certain traits, even to create certain kinds of children, to make our
    children objects rather than cherished individuals.
        We are still a long way from understanding all the implications of
    the present discoveries, but it is our moral obligation to confront
    these issues as they arise and to act now to prevent abuse. Today I hope
    other countries will see what we are doing and do the same, and I pledge
    to work with them to enforce similar bans around the world that reflect
    these values.
        Once again, let me say a heartfelt thank-you on behalf of our entire
    Nation to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission for the remarkable
    work you have done and the work you have agreed to continue doing in the
    coming years.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:56 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Harold T. Shapiro, Chairman,
    National Bioethics Advisory Commission.