WASHINGTON — A bill introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Rep. David Joseph Weldon, R-Fla., received the support of the Bush Administration Wednesday as the best legislative approach to ban all human cloning.

Claude A. Allen, deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, endorsed H.R. 1644 as the best current anti-cloning proposal during his testimony at a hearing of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce.

The bill, The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, was introduced by Stupak and Weldon in April. It amends U.S. Code to make human embryo cloning a criminal act.

Wednesday’s testimony at the four-hour hearing also addressed a competing bill by Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa., which would permit cloning of human embryos as a research technique but would ban the procedure as a means of reproduction.

“Any attempt to clone a human being not only would present a grave risk to the mother and child but also would pose deeply troubling moral and ethical issues for humankind,” Allen said in written testimony.

Stupak thanked the administration for its support and predicted more Congressional attention to this important issue. “Although earlier legislative efforts to address the issue of human cloning have stalled, widespread public concern about the ethics of the procedure and an increased awareness of the feasibility of the technique may help spur passage of a ban.

“There are many facets to scientific, ethical, legal and moral debate over human cloning, and I look forward to working with all my House colleagues to shape legislation that offers the great benefit for humankind and the greatest protection for individual human lives,” Stupak said.