Dear Mr. President,

I write to indicate my strong opposition to the Brownback-Landrieu bill in the Senate and H.R. 2505 in the House of Representatives. Both proposals would criminalize both reproductive cloning as well as medical research conducted for therapeutic purposes. While we both can agress that reproductive cloning should be banned, I believe that a more measured approach should be taken towards therapeutic cloning.

Recently, 40 Nobel Laureates state that "legislation such as that introduced by Senator Brownback would foreclse the legitimate use of nuclear transplantation...and impede progress agains some of the most debilitating diseases known to man." Therapeutic cloning, or nuclear transplantation, may have enormous potential for the treatment of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, spinal cord injury and a vast array of other diseases and injuries. Unlike reproductive cloning, this approach will never produce a cloned human being. But it could result in the development of life-saving therapies that could improve the well-being of all Americans.

During my tenure as President, concerns were raised regarding research involving recombinant DNA. After careful thought, safeguards were put in place to ensure close monitoring of this research. Allowing recombinant DNA research to proceed produced significant advances in the prevention and treatment of diseases and illnesses that afflict millions of Americans including vaccines, insulin for diabetics and treatments for AIDS and cancer.

I strongly urge you to use the recombinant DNA model as a precedent, and allow research conducted for therapeutic purposes to proceed.

I reiterate my opposition to reproductive cloning and my full support for therapeutic cloning which is so vital to scientific research for the treatment of many serious diseases and injuries. The above noted House and Senate bills would adversely impace scientific research and should not become law.

My very best wishes,