[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.