[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 15 (Monday, April 15, 2002)]
[Pages 608-610]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Human Cloning Legislation

April 10, 2002

    Well, thank you all so very much for coming to the White House. It's 
my honor to welcome you to the people's house.
    I particularly want to honor three folks who I had the honor of 
meeting earlier, Joni Tada, Jim Kelly, and Steve McDonald. I want to 
thank you for your courage; I want to thank you for your wisdom; I want 
to thank you for your extraordinary perseverance and faith. They have 
triumphed in the face of physical disability and share a deep commitment 
to medicine that is practiced ethically and humanely.
    All of us here today believe in the promise of modern medicine. 
We're hopeful about where science may take us. And we're also here 
because we believe in the principles of ethical medicine. As we seek to 
improve human life, we must always preserve human dignity. And 
therefore, we must prevent human cloning by stopping it before it 
starts.
    I want to welcome Tommy Thompson, who is the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, a man who is doing a fine job for America. I want to 
thank Members from the

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United States Congress, Members from both political parties who are 
here. I particularly want to thank Senator Brownback and Senator 
Landrieu for sponsoring a bill about which I'm going to speak.
    As well, we've got Senator Frist and Senator Bond and Senator 
Hutchinson and Senator Santorum and Congressman Weldon, Stupak, and 
eventually Smith and Kerns. They just don't realize--thank you all for 
coming--they seem to have forgotten we start things on time here in the 
White House. [Laughter]
    We live in a time of tremendous medical progress. A little more than 
a year ago, scientists first cracked the human genetic code, one of the 
most important advances in scientific history. Already, scientists are 
developing new diagnostic tools so that each of us can know our risk of 
disease and act to prevent them.
    One day soon, precise therapies will be custom made for our own 
genetic makeup. We're on the threshold of historic breakthroughs against 
AIDS and Alzheimer's disease and cancer and diabetes and heart disease 
and Parkinson's disease. And that's incredibly positive.
    Our age may be known to history as the age of genetic medicine, a 
time when many of the most feared illnesses were overcome. Our age must 
also be defined by the care and restraint and responsibility with which 
we take up these new scientific powers.
    Advances in biomedical technology must never come at the expense of 
human conscience. As we seek what is possible, we must always ask what 
is right, and we must not forget that even the most noble ends do not 
justify any means.
    Science has set before us decisions of immense consequence. We can 
pursue medical research with a clear sense of moral purpose, or we can 
travel without an ethical compass into a world we could live to regret. 
Science now presses forward the issue of human cloning. How we answer 
the question of human cloning will place us on one path or the other.
    Human cloning is the laboratory production of individuals who are 
genetically identical to another human being. Cloning is achieved by 
putting the genetic material from a donor into a woman's egg, which has 
had its nucleus removed. As a result, the new or cloned embryo is an 
identical copy of only the donor. Human cloning has moved from science 
fiction into science.
    One biotech company has already began producing embryonic human 
clones for research purposes. Chinese scientists have derived stem cells 
from cloned embryos created by combining human DNA and rabbit eggs. 
Others have announced plans to produce cloned children, despite the fact 
that laboratory cloning of animals has lead to spontaneous abortions and 
terrible, terrible abnormalities.
    Human cloning is deeply troubling to me and to most Americans. Life 
is a creation, not a commodity. Our children are gifts to be loved and 
protected, not products to be designed and manufactured. Allowing 
cloning would be taking a significant step toward a society in which 
human beings are grown for spare body parts and children are engineered 
to custom specifications, and that's not acceptable.
    In the current debate over human cloning, two terms are being used, 
reproductive cloning and research cloning. Reproductive cloning involves 
creating a cloned embryo and implanting it into a woman with the goal of 
creating a child. Fortunately, nearly every American agrees that this 
practice should be banned. Research cloning, on the other hand, involves 
the creation of cloned human embryos which are then destroyed to derive 
stem cells.
    I believe all human cloning is wrong, and both forms of cloning 
ought to be banned for the following reasons. First, anything other than 
a total ban on human cloning would be unethical. Research cloning would 
contradict the most fundamental principle of medical ethics, that no 
human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of 
another. Yet, a law permitting research cloning, while forbidding the 
birth of a cloned child, would require the destruction of nascent human 
life.
    Secondly, anything other than a total ban on human cloning would be 
virtually impossible to enforce. Cloned human embryos created for 
research would be widely available in laboratories and embryo farms. 
Once

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cloned embryos were available, implantation would take place. Even the 
tightest regulations and strict policing would not prevent or detect the 
birth of cloned babies.
    Third, the benefits of research cloning are highly speculative. 
Advocates of research cloning argue that stem cells obtained from cloned 
embryos would be injected into a genetically identical individual 
without risk of tissue rejection. But there is evidence, based on animal 
studies, that cells derived from cloned embryos may indeed be rejected.
    Yet, even if research cloning were medically effective, every person 
who wanted to benefit would need an embryonic clone of his or her own to 
provide the designer tissues. This would create a massive national 
market for eggs and egg donors and exploitation of women's bodies that 
we cannot and must not allow.
    I stand firm in my opposition to human cloning. And at the same 
time, we will pursue other promising and ethical ways to relieve 
suffering, through biotechnology. This year for the first time, Federal 
dollars will go towards supporting human embryonic stem cell research 
consistent with the ethical guidelines I announced last August.
    The National Institutes of Health is also funding a broad range of 
animal and human adult stem cell research. Adult stem cells, which do 
not require the destruction of human embryos and which yield tissues 
that can be transplanted without rejection, are more versatile than 
originally thought. We're making progress. We're learning more about 
them. And therapies developed from adult stem cells are already helping 
suffering people.
    I support increasing the research budget of the NIH, and I ask 
Congress to join me in that support. And at the same time, I strongly 
support a comprehensive law against all human cloning. And I endorse the 
bill--wholeheartedly endorse the bill--sponsored by Senator Brownback 
and Senator Mary Landrieu.
    This carefully drafted bill would ban all human cloning in the 
United States, including the cloning of embryos for research. It is 
nearly identical to the bipartisan legislation that last year passed the 
House of Representatives by more than a 100-vote margin. It has wide 
support across the political spectrum. Liberals and conservatives 
support it. Religious people and nonreligious people support it. Those 
who are pro-choice and those who are pro-life support the bill. This is 
a diverse coalition, united by a commitment to prevent the cloning and 
exploitation of human beings. It would be a mistake for the United 
States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that 
Chamber.
    I'm an incurable optimist about the future of our country. I know we 
can achieve great things. We can make the world more peaceful. We can 
become a more compassionate nation. We can push the limits of medical 
science. I truly believe that we're going to bring hope and healing to 
countless lives across the country. And as we do, I will insist that we 
always maintain the highest of ethical standards.
    Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1:18 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to H.R. 2505, the proposed ``Human 
Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001.''