REMARKS OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY AT THE
PRESS CONFERENCE ON
CLONING
March 5, 2002
For Immediate Release
Contact: Stephanie Cutter/Jim
Manley
(202) 224-2633
Thank you, Christopher. Your courage and your dedication to finding a
cure for spinal injuries is an inspiration to us all. Your acting talent
made you a movie star -- but your courage has made you a hero.
We are here today in strong support of promising medical research that
provides new hope to millions of Americans. Almost every week, we read
about new breakthroughs using stem cells, gene therapy or some other
medical miracle. Yet now, at the start of the new century, the Senate is
being asked to block this life-saving research just when it is showing its
greatest promise.
We should not confuse medical research with human cloning. Senator
Feinstein, Senator Specter and I support bills that unequivocally prohibit
cloning a child, and I hope the Senate will approve this needed
legislation.
But there are some who would go much further than our measured
proposals. In the name of banning cloning, they would block progress in
regenerative medicine.
The Senate has debated excessive restrictions on medical research
before. In the 1970's we rejected calls to ban basic biotechnology
research. Had we accepted those misguided arguments then, we millions of
patients with diabetes, AIDS, arthritis, heart disease and cancer would
have paid a terrible price.
In the 1990's, we rejected proposals to prohibit fetal tissue research.
Had we listened to those misguided arguments then, promising new research
would have been stifled.
Today, at the beginning of this new century of the life sciences, the
leading edge of research is regenerative medicine--using the body's own
cells to repair the body's diseases. This research may lead to new hope
and new cures for paralysis, severe burns, Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and many other dread disorders. But once
again voices are raised to block this research and deny hope and help to
millions of families.
Four years ago, the Senate rejected hasty legislation to restrict
medical research using nuclear transfer techniques--but today we face a
new effort to stop the clock on medical progress. It is time to say no to
those who put ideology ahead of patients.
Christopher Reeve is sure that he will one day get up out of his
wheelchair. If further research in regenerative medicine could bring that
moment even one day closer, how can we deny him that chance? Let's ban
human cloning -- not the cures of tomorrow. | 