[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 48 (Monday, December 3, 2001)]
[Pages 1724-1726]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 13237--Creation of the President's Council on Bioethics
November 28, 2001
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Establishment. There is established the President's
Council on Bioethics (the ``Council'').
Sec. 2. Mission.
(a) The Council shall advise the President on bioethical issues that
may emerge as a consequence of advances in biomedical science and
technology. In connection with its advisory role, the mission of the
Council includes the following functions:
(1) to undertake fundamental inquiry into the human and moral
significance of developments in biomedical and behavioral
science and technology;
(2) to explore specific ethical and policy questions related to
these developments;
(3) to provide a forum for a national discussion of bioethical
issues;
(4) to facilitate a greater understanding of bioethical issues;
and
(5) to explore possibilities for useful international
collaboration on bioethical issues.
(b) In support of its mission, the Council may study ethical issues
connected with specific technological activities, such as embryo
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and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, uses of
knowledge and techniques derived from human genetics or the
neurosciences, and end of life issues. The Council may also study
broader ethical and social issues not tied to a specific technology,
such as questions regarding the protection of human subjects in
research, the appropriate uses of biomedical technologies, the moral
implications of biomedical technologies, and the consequences of
limiting scientific research.
(c) The Council shall strive to develop a deep and comprehensive
understanding of the issues that it considers. In pursuit of this goal,
the Council shall be guided by the need to articulate fully the complex
and often competing moral positions on any given issue, rather than by
an overriding concern to find consensus. The Council may therefore
choose to proceed by offering a variety of views on a particular issue,
rather than attempt to reach a single consensus position.
(d) The Council shall not be responsible for the review and approval
of specific projects or for devising and overseeing regulations for
specific government agencies.
(e) In support of its mission, the Council may accept suggestions of
issues for consideration from the heads of other Government agencies and
other sources, as it deems appropriate.
(f) In establishing priorities for its activities, the Council shall
consider the urgency and gravity of the particular issue; the need for
policy guidance and public education on the particular issue; the
connection of the bioethical issue to the goal of Federal advancement of
science and technology; and the existence of another entity available to
deliberate appropriately on the bioethical issue.
Sec. 3. Membership.
(a) The Council shall be composed of not more than 18 members
appointed by the President from among individuals who are not officers
or employees of the Federal Government. The Council shall include
members drawn from the fields of science and medicine, law and
government, philosophy and theology, and other areas of the humanities
and social sciences.
(b) The President shall designate a member of the Council to serve
as Chairperson.
(c) The term of office of a member shall be 2 years, and members
shall be eligible for reappointment. Members may continue to serve after
the expiration of their terms until the President appoints a successor.
A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired
term of such vacancy.
Sec. 4. Administration.
(a) Upon the request of the Chairperson, the heads of executive
departments and agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide
the Council with information it needs for purposes of carrying out its
functions.
(b) The Council may conduct inquiries, hold hearings, and establish
subcommittees, as necessary.
(c) The Council is authorized to conduct analyses and develop
reports or other materials.
(d) Members of the Council may be compensated to the extent
permitted by Federal law for their work on the Council. Members may be
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as
authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in Government
service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), to the extent funds are available.
(e) To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability
of appropriations, the Department of Health and Human Services shall
provide the Council with administrative support and with such funds as
may be necessary for the performance of the Council's functions.
(f) The Council shall have a staff headed by an Executive Director,
who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in
consultation with the Chairperson. To the extent permitted by law,
office space, analytical support, and additional staff support for the
Council shall be provided by the Department of Health and Human Services
or other executive branch departments and agencies as directed by the
President.
Sec. 5. General Provisions.
(a) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5
U.S.C. App.), may apply to the Council, any functions of the
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President under that Act, except that of reporting to the Congress,
shall be performed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in
accordance with the guidelines that have been issued by the
Administrator of General Services.
(b) The Council shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order
unless extended by the President prior to that date.
(c) This order is intended only to improve the internal management
of the executive branch and it is not intended to create any right,
benefit, trust, or responsibility, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its
agencies, its officers, or any person.
George W. Bush
The White House,
November 28, 2001.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:19 a.m., November
29, 2001]
Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on
November 30.