    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
    [Pages 1734-1735]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on the National Bioethics Advisory Commission's 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.

    [[Page 1735]]

        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.