[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 24 (Monday, June 16, 1997)]
[Pages 845-846]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Proposed ``Cloning Prohibition 
Act of 1997''

June 9, 1997

To the Congress of the United States:

    I am pleased to transmit today for immediate consideration and 
prompt enactment the ``Cloning Prohibition Act of 1997.'' This 
legislative proposal would prohibit any attempt to create a human being 
using somatic cell nuclear transfer technology, the method that was used 
to create Dolly the sheep. This proposal will also provide for further 
review of the ethical and scientific issues associated with the use of 
somatic cell nuclear transfer in human beings.
    Following the February report that a sheep had been successfully 
cloned using a new technique, I requested my National Bioethics Advisory 
Commission to examine the ethical and legal implications of applying the 
same cloning technology to human beings. The Commission concluded that 
at this time ``it is morally unacceptable for anyone in the public or 
private sector, whether in a research or clinical setting, to attempt to 
create a child using somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning'' and 
recommended that Federal legislation be enacted to prohibit such 
activities. I agree with the Commission's conclusion and am transmitting 
this legislative proposal to implement its recommendation.
    Various forms of cloning technology have been used for decades 
resulting in important

[[Page 846]]

biomedical and agricultural advances. Genes, cells, tissues, and even 
whole plants and animals have been cloned to develop new therapies for 
treating such disorders as cancer, diabetes, and cystic fibrosis. 
Cloning technology also holds promise for producing replacement skin, 
cartilage, or bone tissue for burn or accident victims, and nerve tissue 
to treat spinal cord injury. Therefore, nothing in the ``Cloning 
Prohibition Act of 1997'' restricts activities in other areas of 
biomedical and agricultural research that involve: (1) the use of 
somatic cell nuclear transfer or other cloning technologies to clone 
molecules, DNA, cells, and tissues; or (2) the use of somatic cell 
nuclear transfer techniques to create animals.
    The Commission recommended that such legislation provide for further 
review of the state of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology and the 
ethical and social issues attendant to its potential use to create human 
beings. My legislative proposal would implement this recommendation and 
assign responsibility for the review, to be completed in the fifth year 
after passage of the legislation, to the National Bioethics Advisory 
Commission.
    I urge the Congress to give this legislation prompt and favorable 
consideration.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
June 9, 1997.