Statement of Senator Feinstein on
Legislation that would Ban Human Cloning,
While Allowing Therapeutic Cloning for Research
February 5, 2002

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) today chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that focused on legislation she has introduced to make the cloning of a human being a crime, while allowing other medical research, known as therapeutic cloning, to proceed. The following is the text of her opening statement:

"Cloning is one of those words that seems to inspire dread in people, visions of an apocalyptic world of zombies marching lockstep. However, as is the case with many medical technologies, it is not cloning techniques that are the problem but some of their potential applications.

For example, we are all concerned about the sale of human organs or the transplant of organs from executed prisoners. But few people argue that the solution to these potential problems is to ban organ transplantation.

There is broad agreement across our society, in Congress, and in the scientific, medical, and religious communities that we should ban human cloning. Such cloning is scientifically unsafe, morally unacceptable and ethically flawed.

However, it is also clear-at least to the overwhelming majority of the scientific and medical community-that we should not ban nuclear transplantation to produce stem cells or what is often called therapeutic cloning.

Many doctors and scientists have argued that we must protect our ability to use cloning techniques to try to save and improve the lives of those ravaged by disease and other ailments.

In fact, nuclear transplantation offers enormous potential for providing cures for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and heart disease as well as conditions such as spinal cord injuries, liver damage, arthritis, and burns.

This technique could allow the creation of bone marrow for transplants to leukemia victims, islet cells for the pancreas of a diabetic, heart or liver tissue to repair the damage caused by heart attacks or hepatitis, healthy skin for grafts for burn victims, and many other potential cures and treatments for a variety of diseases and ailments.

First, nuclear transplantation could be used to create embryonic stem cells, which could be used to make tissues and even organs for transplant. This would help relieve the serious shortage of tissues and organs for transplant. Over 50,000 Americans are waiting for organ transplants while hundreds of thousands more need tissue transplants. Tragically, every year over 5,000 people die waiting for the organs or tissue they need to be donated. Many are young children.

Second, the use of nuclear transplantation to produce a tissue or organ could virtually eliminate the danger that the patient's body would reject it. Nuclear transplantation techniques could allow the implantation of 'new' cells or tissues that exactly match those of the person into whom they are implanted, greatly reducing the likelihood that the person's body would reject those cells or tissues. Such research has the potential to save thousands of lives and relieve the pain and misery of thousands more.

Third, nuclear transplantation has many other applications as well. It could be used to produce human proteins such as blood clotting factors that aid in healing wounds.

It could yield information on stem cell differentiation, providing valuable information about the mechanism of aging and the causes of cancer. It could even be used to find a cure for cancer by teaching us how to reprogram cells.

I believe strongly that it would be a disaster to ban this kind of valuable research.

Thus, I have introduced a bill, S. 1758, that takes a balanced approach to the cloning issue. This legislation would make the cloning of a human being a crime, while allowing research involving nuclear transplantation to proceed.

This is the same approach recommended by a number of blue-ribbon scientific and medical panels, including the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the National Academies' Panel on Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Cloning, and the California Advisory Committee on Human Cloning.

All of these commissions and panels delved deeply into the cloning issue and ended up coming to the same conclusion: we should ban human cloning but not interfere with important areas of scientific research, including nuclear transplantation to produce stem cells.

I am pleased that two of colleagues on this committee-Senators Kennedy and Durbin-are cosponsors of this legislation. In addition, Senators Boxer, Miller, Corzine, Clinton, and Mikulski are cosponsors.

I am also glad that the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology as well as 22 other scientific and medical organizations have endorsed the bill.

In their letter, they note that S. 1758 is a 'carefully worded bill that should expedite the development of therapies for millions of Americans.'

I would now like to put this letter in the record.

I also want to acknowledge Senator Specter's leadership on the cloning issue as well as on stem cell research generally. He and Senator Harkin have introduced legislation, S. 1893, that is very similar to S. 1758. I look forward to working with them on this issue. And I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today."

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