Mark Green
8^TH DISTRICT, WISCONSIN
April 23, 2002

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While scientists race for the dubious honor of cloning the first human, lawmakers in the Senate have stopped the nation from taking a stance on this time-sensitive issue. Last summer, my House colleagues and I overwhelmingly voted for a total ban on human cloning. It's nine months later and still dozens of Senators have made no decision on this critical issue. Many of them are still testing the political winds of human cloning. Without action in the Senate, the House ban on cloning remains useless – we will still have no U.S. law to stop it. As these Senators continue to delay, I truly believe our nation has already decided and common sense dictates the essential need for an immediate human cloning ban.

While many Senators’ overall positions remain cloudy, most are clear on one thing: cloning an embryo to initiate a pregnancy should be banned. The need for a ban on cloning for this purpose is obvious. If such cloning were permitted, the scenarios we can only imagine might become reality: distraught parents replicating a child who has died, or even choosing what they wanted the genetic make-up of their child to be. When put in this light, it’s easy to see many of the grave moral and ethical consequences of such an action.

Nevertheless, when it comes to using cloned embryos for scientific and research purposes, many of these lawmakers remain silent. The president has presented a strong argument against this procedure; "research cloning would contradict the most fundamental principle of medical ethics, that no human life should be exploited . . . for the benefit of another." I agree completely, and so do over seventy percent of Americans polled. It is hard for many of us to view research on cloned embryos as little more than "manufacturing" human life simply to destroy it in the name of "scientific progress." Yet the voices on the opposing side, both Republicans and Democrats, claim this ban would shut the door on developing treatments for Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and a host of other medical problems.

I disagree with these folks completely. Scientists and researchers are able to use already existing cells for this research and are continuing to find other cells that can be used for developing treatments for diseases. If we open the door to embryonic cloning for research and create hundreds and thousands of embryonic clones, the possibility of embryonic cells being used to initiate "clone pregnancies" will only be a small step ahead.

China, along with other countries, has already approved this type of research. My hope is that in the case of human cloning we can distinguish ourselves from the rest of the world. What makes our nation great is more than just our advanced technology and scientific achievement, but our respect for human life and individuals. Advancements in biomedical science can coexist with ethical limits. My hope is that my friends in the Senate will soon see that and make the right choice. Every day of indecision on this issue is another day the legality of cloning is "up in the air." Human lives are at stake, and it’s time to take a stand.

If you have any questions or comments about this issue or anything else, please give my office a call toll free at 1-800-773-8579, e-mail me directly at mark.green@mail.house.gov, or check out my Web site at www.house.gov/markgreen.

Thanks, and keep in touch.