come provides ammunition to advocates and opponents on all sides of the issue. A statement released by the White House said that the President “ap- preciated” the work done by the Council, while simulta- neously  dismissing  it  by saying that, “the President urges the Senate to follow the House’s lead and take action  this  year  to  ban  all human cloning.” Sen. Sam Brownback (R- KS), lead sponsor of the anti- cloning  legislation  in  the United    States    Senate, praised the idea of a mora- torium, but also took excep- tion to the report.  “Unfortunately, I do have some areas of disagreement with the bioet- hics council. In particular, I do not believe that we can separate the issue of human cloning  into  two  different  categories  by making policy recommendations based on the intentions of the researcher,” he said. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a group of 60 patient groups, scientific societies and university groups co-founded by the ASCB, also ex- pressed its opposition to the report.  “The Council’s recommendation is a blow to the millions of Americans fighting life-threat- ening medical conditions, because a mora- torium has the same effect as a ban on life- saving   research,”   said Michael Manganiello, President of CAMR. The House of Represen- tatives  passed  legislation last  year  that  would  ban both reproductive cloning and  nuclear  transplanta- tion.  The U.S. Senate has yet to complete action.  If inac- tion continues until the Sen- ate adjourns for the year, it is almost certain the issue will be debated once again when the new Congress begins its work in January. For a copy of the Bioethics Council report and transcripts of the Council’s deliberations, see http://www.bioethics.gov.   n 12 Continue                                                                                              The ASCB  Newsletter,  Vol  25,  No    8 n Congress  Still Weighing Homeland Security Proposal Committees in both the House of Represen- tatives  and  the  Senate  continue  to  work with unusual speed to act on legislation proposed by President Bush that would re- organize the Federal government by trans- ferring large sections to a newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The  President  has  asked  that  legislation creating the new department be ready for him to sign into law by September 11. Many provisions of the bill drafted by the President have met with strong objec- tions on Capitol Hill, ranging from Consti- tutional and policy disagreements to the desire by powerful members of Congress to protect their favorite Federal programs. One policy disagreement has been over the President’s proposal to transfer por- tions of the National Institutes of Health to DHS.  The President modified his proposal to allow the Secretary for Homeland Secu- rity to conduct his research responsibili- ties “through the Department of Health and Human Services …under agreements with the Secretary of Health and Human Ser- vices.”    The  Secretary  of  DHS  was  also granted the ability to transfer funds, estab- lish the research and development program and set research priorities. The House of Representatives is mov- ing faster than the Senate. The House En- ergy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the research and devel- opment portions of the DHS bill, objected to any transfer of NIH responsibilities and instead has given the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to “set priorities for such activities [civilian hu- man health-related research and develop- ment activities related to countermeasures for chemical, biological radiological and A statement released by the White House said that the  President “appreci- ated”  the  work  done  by the Council, while simulta- neously dismissing it by say- ing  that, “the  President urges the Senate to follow the House’s lead and take action this year to ban all human cloning.” “The  Council’s  recom- mendation  is  a  blow  to the millions of Americans fighting  life-threatening medical  conditions,  be- cause a moratorium has the same effect as a ban on life-saving research.”