[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