SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 1534 words

COMMITTEE: HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE

HEADLINE: TESTIMONY OVERSIGNT OF HUMAN CLONING RESEARCH

TESTIMONY-BY: CLIFF STEARNS,R-FL

BODY:
March 28, 2001 Statement of the Honorable Cliff Stearns/P,FL before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Commerce Issues Raised by Human Cloning Research Thank you, Chairman Greenwood, for holding this important hearing today. To summarize my position: Cloning, ' is a form of playing God since it interferes with the natural order of creation. Ever since the world was made aware of Dolly, and then the infamous Dr. Seed and the possibility of cloning human beings, significant actions have been taken to outlaw this practice. In the 105 and 106 1h Congresses I introduced legislation to prohibit the expenditure of Federal funds to conduct or support research on the cloning of humans, and to express the sense of the Congress that other countries should establish substantially equivalent restrictions. To some extent the purpose of my bill has been initiated. Former President Clinton banned the use of federal funds for research on cloning of human beings and the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, covering not just the EU, but all European states has already outlawed this practice. Even though President Clinton called for the prohibition of federal funds for cloning of human beings, I believe legislation to ban federal funding of research on humans is necessary. Let me explain why I think this is the case. Currently, in the United States four states prohibit cloning and eight more states have legislation pending to ban human cloning. Let's take a look at the California law. It imposes a five-year moratorium on cloning of an entire human being. The word entire is key because some of us consider an embryo to be a human being. That is why we must be very cautious in the terminology that is used because you will hear the words entire human being used frequently in debates about cloning. That is just one of many problems associated with technology that may be used to clone humans. I would like to share with you what Lori B. Andrews, who teaches the legal aspects of genetics at Chicago-Kent College, has to say about the bans on human cloning. She has analyzed the bans under consideration in 20 states. Here is what she has to say: "Once again, technology may be running circles around the law. At least seven state bans prohibit transferring the nucleus from a human cell into a human egg, but that doesn't address the possibility of transfer-ring a human nucleus into a nonhuman egg." But, that is not the only loophole. Seven state proposals ban the creation of "genetically identical" individuals, but that leaves another loophole. "An egg cell donated for cloning has its own mitochondrial(my toe con dree al) DNA, which is different from the mitrochondrial DNA of the cell that provided the nucleus. The 6clone' will therefore not be truly identical." There are many issues raised by the possibility of cloning humans, including the medical risks that are inherent in such procedures. These risks should cause great alarm for each and every one of us. In 1998 the Farm Animal Welfare Council of the UK Minister of Agriculture called for a moratorium on commercial uses of animal cloning because of serious welfare problems encountered when animal species have been cloned. So, to attempt such a technique on humans, which has caused deformities, large fetuses and premature deaths in sheep and cattle is the height of irresponsibility. Let's not forget that it took 273 tries to develop Dolly. That begs the question, what about the other 272 animals? Most of them were either aborted, destroyed, or maimed. Obviously, we do not want to do this with human beings. There are also compelling and serious ethical and moral implications involved with cloning of humans. Theologians and ethicists have raised three broad objections. Cloning humans could lead to a new eugenics movement, where even if cloning begins with a benign purpose, it could lead to the establishment of r4scientific" categories of superior and inferior people. Cloning is a form of playing God since it interferes with the natural order of creation. Cloning could have long-term effects that are unknown and harmful. People have a right to their own identity and their own genetic makeup, which should not be replicated. I look forward to hearing from your distinguished panel of witnesses. I'm sure that this hearing will provide us with answers to some questions and also cause us to question some of the answers. What we should learn today is: what regulations or guidelines currently exist in the US and the rest of world, including the Food and Drug Administration's role; the potential uses of cloning; and, most importantly, the ethical and the social issues related to cloning. Mr. Chairman, I would like to place the testimony of Attorney Clarke D. Forsythe, who is President of Americans United for Life, in the record. Mr. Forsythe's testimony discusses the constitutional issues related to cloning of human beings, which is an important part of the debate surrounding this complex issue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

LOAD-DATE: March 30, 2001, Friday