Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Greenwood/Deutsch substitute. During a debate on stem cell research five years ago, I made it clear that opponents of stem cell research who claim that it requires the creation of embryos were mistaken and I agreed with them that federal funds should not be used for that purpose. Today, we are debating a much broader ban on therapeutic cloning. The context is much different. We have learned a great deal about the promise of stem cell research and gene therapy over the past five years, and I am opposed to any ban on therapeutic cloning.
It is true that embryonic stem cell research can go forward without therapeutic cloning. However, the ability of patients to benefit from stem cell research would be negatively impacted if such a ban were enacted.
Once we learn how to make embryonic stem cells differentiate into, for example, brain tissue for people with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, we must ensure that the body will not reject these stem cells when they are implanted.
This is a very real concern because transplanted organs or tissue are rejected when the body identifies them as foreign. In a report on stem cell research released by the National Institutes of Health last month, the NIH described therapeutic cloning’s potential to create stem cell tissue with an immunological profile that exactly matches the patient. This customized therapy would dramatically reduce the risk of rejection.
I am opposed to the cloning of humans. Many of my colleagues have already mentioned the chilling possibilities created by the creation of "designer children" with genetically engineered traits. Both the Weldon/Stupak bill and the Greenwood/Deutsch substitute agree on this point, and the cloning of humans is not the issue at hand. Therapeutic cloning does not and cannot create a child.
The Weldon/Stupak bill goes too far. The Greenwood/Deutsch substitute prohibits human cloning but maintains the opportunity for patients to benefit from therapeutic cloning that could lead to cures for Parkinson’s Disease, cancer, spinal cord injuries, and Diabetes. I urge my colleagues to support the Greenwood /Deutsch substitute.
