10 Continue                                                                                               The ASCB  Newsletter,  Vol  25,  No  3 that would remove the teaching of the theory of evolution from all textbooks and cur- ricula in Washington state schools. The bill, S.  6500, states, “the teaching of the  theory  of  evolution  in  the  common schools of the state of Wash- ington is repugnant to the principles  of  the  Declara- tion of Independence and thereby  unconstitutional and unlawful.”  The bill re- quires  that  all  textbooks and curriculum that teach the theory of evolution be removed from Washington schools and replaced with books   and   curriculum “that teach the self-evident truth of cre- ation.”  Hochstatter’s bill has been referred to the Washington Senate Education Com- mittee for consideration. Hochstatter represents the 13th Legisla- tive District in central Washington, includ- ing the counties of Benton, Grant, Kittitas and Yakima.  He serves on the Education, Labor, Commerce & Financial Institutions and Rules Committee in the Senate. n n UN Takes up Cloning On February 25, the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings held its first meeting.  The Committee was established by the United Nations Gen- eral Assembly in December 2001 at the re- quest of member nations France and Ger- many. The Committee includes the countries of Japan, Malaysia, China, the United States, Germany, France, Brazil, Sweden, the Re- public of Korea, Croatia, Uganda, the Rus- sian  Federation,  Israel,  the  Vatican, Liechtenstein, Spain, Portugal, and Costa Rica.  The United Nations Educational, Sci- entific,   and   Cultural   Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organi- zation (WHO) are also members. The Committee, under the chairmanship of Peter Tomka of Slovakia, began its work by hearing from five experts from around the world who laid out the scientific and ethical issues involved in the debate.  Arthur Caplan from the University of Penn- sylvania  introduced  the panel. The views of nations rep- resented on the commission range  from  those  of  the United States and the Vatican, who favor a total ban, to Is- rael and Japan, who favor a more liberal position to enable science to develop the poten- tial health benefits of cloning technology. During her remarks to the Committee, U.S. delegate Carolyn L. Willson stated flatly that “since it is necessary to destroy embryos” in order to produce stem cells, “you’re killing a growing human being.” The  Committee  will  meet  again  in September.  It is the goal of the Committee to develop an international convention banning human cloning before the end of 2003. n n Goldstein Meets with Senate on Cloning As the Senate approaches a vote on legis- lation by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) that would criminalize both reproductive cloning  and  nuclear  transplantation  to produce stem cells, efforts to educate Sena- tors and their staff continue.  The ASCB has joined with other members of the Coa- lition for the Advancement of Medical Re- search (CAMR) to meet with as many Sen- ate offices as possible. ASCB officer and Public Policy Commit- tee Vice Chair Larry Goldstein spent Feb- ruary 14 on Capitol Hill to meet with staff members  from  nine  Senate  offices:  John Rockefeller (D-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Evan Bayh (D-IN) John Edwards (D-NC), The  bill  requires  that  all textbooks and curriculum that teach the theory of evolution  be  removed from Washington schools and replaced with books and   curriculum  “that teach  the  self-evident truth of creation.”