    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [September 13, 1999]
    [Page 1529]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1529]]

    Statement on the National Bioethics Advisory Commission Report on Human
    Stem Cell Research
    September 13, 1999

        Today my National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) delivered its
    report on the ethical use of human stem cells in research. Because of
    the enormous medical potential of such research, I asked the NBAC in
    November 1998 to look at the ethical and medical issues surrounding
    human stem cell research. The scientific results that have emerged in
    just the past few months already strengthen the basis for my hope that
    one day stem cells will be used to replace cardiac muscle cells for
    people with heart disease, nerve cells for hundreds of thousands of
    Parkinson's patients, or insulin-producing cells for children who suffer
    from diabetes.
        The issues addressed by the NBAC's recommendations are complex and
    difficult. The commissioners are to be commended for the thoroughness
    with which they engaged in this discussion and the national dialog that
    they facilitated, seeking the views and opinions of virtually every
    segment of our society including scientists, patients, scholars from
    most of the major religions in the United States, lawyers, philosophers,
    ethicists, and the public.
        I want to thank Dr. Harold Shapiro,
    Chairman of the NBAC, and other commissioners for a thoughtful report
    that will contribute significantly to the efforts of my administration
    as we establish the highest ethical standards for the conduct of human
    stem cell research.