[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.