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[Page: S5448]  GPO's PDF
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   Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, earlier this week I modified my bill, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, S. 2076. I originally introduced this bill in an attempt to forge a consensus on what I thought was a straight-forward concept, the banning of reproductive cloning or the cloning of a human being. When I introduced the legislation, I stated: ``It is a simple bill, but it reflects my view and a view that is held by almost everyone. ..... My legislation makes it illegal to clone a human being and imposes strict penalties against anyone who violates this prohibition.''

   However, in recent weeks those who oppose my legislation have interpreted the language of my bill in a manner that is not consistent with the intent of the bill. They argue that my bill as originally introduced would allow a cloned embryo to be implanted into the uterus and ``harvested'' at some point prior to birth.

   I do not believe the language of my bill allows that, and it is certainly not the intent of the bill. But, in order that no one can misinterpret the intent of my bill, I am making an adjustment in the bill language. The revised language will define human cloning as ``implanting or attempting to implant the product of somatic cell nuclear transfer, or any other cloning technique, into a uterus or the functional equivalent of a uterus.'' It makes it unlawful for ``any person to conduct or attempt to conduct human cloning .'' The bill retains the strict penalties against violators that were present in the original version.

   My legislation is silent on the matter of therapeutic cloning or what some call ``regenerative medicine.'' I understand that this is a topic that needs thoughtful discussion and debate. It is a subject that is addressed in other bills now before the Senate.

   I respect those who support the Brownback bill and wish to prohibit what is called somatic cell nuclear transplantation or the cloning of stem cells. This is a difficult subject and there is plenty of room for thoughtful disagreement in the debate. But I don't believe that we should prohibit the promising research that could lead to cures for diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease and more. I agree with Nancy Reagan, former President Ford, ORRIN HATCH, and others that this kind of regenerative medicine conducted under strict guidelines and controls can offer great hope to tens of millions of Americans and can save lives.

   The debate on that matter is left to other legislation. My bill applies only to the issue of prohibiting the cloning of a human being and I hope that this change in the language will no longer leave room for those who are opponents to misinterpret or misunderstand its intent.

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