WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today said momentum is continuing to build behind the bipartisan Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning Prohibition Act (S. 1899).

"Momentum continues to build behind our bill which would ban human cloning," Brownback said. "President Bush supports the bill, the House passed the legislation by over 100 votes, S. 1899 has 29 senate cosponsors, and hundreds of citizens from the broad left-middle-right coalition supporting the bill are meeting with senators this week. Yesterday's announcement by Sen. Frist that he is encouraging senators to support the bill and that he will vote for the bill was welcome news.

"Human cloning is an issue of vast importance to our society - and for humanity. It reveals the values we hold, and the worth we place on human life. We should not create life just to destroy it. The public is overwhelmingly opposed to human cloning, and it is an issue the Senate must address.

"Yet there is a growing confusion on the issue of cloning. Some in the Senate say they want a limited ban on 'reproductive' cloning but not on so-called 'therapeutic' cloning. In order to be effective, a ban on human cloning must stop the cloning process at the beginning by banning all human cloning, otherwise known as human somatic cell nuclear transfer.

"So-called 'therapeutic' cloning has not seen any successful treatment results in humans and is taking valuable resources away from an area where many positive results are happening - there are many successful human clinical treatments currently being done with adult and non-embryonic stem cells. More advances are being made with these non-embryonic stem cells every month.

"Many are concerned about the exploitation of women, particularly young women and poor women through cloning. In order to conduct so-called 'therapeutic' cloning research, scientists must harvest millions of eggs from women.

"The commodification of human life is a real fear as well - if companies are able to create cloned human embryos, they will be able to patent their DNA. There already have been patent applications made to the Patent and Trademark Office for a human-animal hybrid (chimera) embryo.

"When we have the Senate debate, it will be about whether we, as a society, will allow human beings to be mass produced, to pre-ordained specifications, for their eventual implantation or destruction. Will the Senate draw the line at dehumanizing experimentation like the House has already done, and like the president has requested? This issue must be addressed by the Senate before the technology overtakes the debate," Brownback said.