    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 10 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
    [Page 281]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Memorandum on the Prohibition on Federal Funding for Cloning of Human
    Beings

    March 4, 1997

    Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

    Subject: Prohibition on Federal Funding for Cloning of Human Beings

        Recent accounts of advances in cloning technology, including the
    first successful cloning of an adult sheep, raise important questions.
    They potentially represent enormous scientific breakthroughs that could
    offer benefits in such areas as medicine and agriculture. But the new
    technology also raises profound ethical issues, particularly with
    respect to its possible use to clone humans. That is why last week I
    asked our National Bioethics Advisory Commission to thoroughly review
    the legal and ethical issues associated with the use of this technology
    and report back to me in 90 days.
        Federal funds should not be used for cloning of human beings. The
    current restrictions on the use of Federal funds for research involving
    human embryos do not fully assure this result. In December 1994, I
    directed the National Institutes of Health not to fund the creation of
    human embryos for research purposes. The Congress extended this
    prohibition in FY 1996 and FY 1997 appropriations bills, barring the
    Department of Health and Human Services from supporting certain human
    embryo research. However, these restrictions do not explicitly cover
    human embryos created for implantation and do not cover all Federal
    agencies. I want to make it absolutely clear that no Federal funds will
    be used for human cloning. Therefore, I hereby direct that no Federal
    funds shall be allocated for cloning of human beings.
                                                William J. Clinton