May  2001 13 CONGRESSIONAL  BIOMEDICAL  RESEARCH  CAUCUS Fred Gage briefed the Congressional Biomedical  Research  Caucus  on “Stem Cells: What Are They & Where Do They Come From?”  A packed crowd of Congressional Members and staff attended. The  Food  and  Drug  Ad- ministration testified that it claims jurisdiction over cloning.    House  Energy and  Commerce  Chair- man  Billy  Tauzin  (R-LA) questioned the ability of the  FDA  to  regulate  hu- man  cloning  and  prom- ised  to  consider  legisla- tion. examine recent claims that a human being will be cloned imminently. Brigitte Boisselier, Scientific Director of a  religious  sect  known  as  Raelian,  and Kentucky in vitro fertilization researcher Panos Zavos claimed that they are capable of cloning a human in the next   eighteen   months. While Zavos said he would not  do  so  in  the  United States, Boisselier indicated that she would conduct her work in an undisclosed U.S. location. The Food and Drug Ad- ministration testified that it claims jurisdiction over clon- ing.  House Energy and Com- merce Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) questioned the ability of the FDA to regulate human cloning and promised to consider legislation. ASCB member Rudolf Jaenisch of MIT’s Whitehead  Institute  also  testified,  stating strong opposition to whole-human cloning, characterizing such attempts as “totally irre- sponsible and totally misleading. I don’t be- lieve there is a single normal clone in exist- ence.” A spokesperson for President Bush said, “the President believes that no research— no  research—to  create  a  human  being should take place in the United States.” To that end, Rep. Brian Kerns (R-IN) and Sena- tor Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) have introduced bills in their respective houses of  Congress  to  ban  human  cloning.    In March   1997,   President Clinton  issued  an  Execu- tive Order banning the use of  federal  money  for  any project involving the clon- ing of humans, but no law exists  to  prevent  such  re- search with private funds. The    House    hearing presages   another   pro- tracted debate over human cloning   this   year.   The ASCB’s position, issued in 1998, has not changed.  It states in part that “if legis- lation is needed, it should specifically be concerned with the reproduction of a hu- man being by nuclear transfer. At the same time, any legislation should not impede or interfere with existing and potential criti- cal research fundamental to the prevention or cure of human disease. This research often includes the cloning of human and animal cell lines and DNA, but not whole human beings.”   n