Human Cloning Prohibition Act

Floor Speech

HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 11, 2007)

* Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2560 the ``Human Cloning Prohibition Act.'' This legislation prohibits human cloning, and it makes it unlawful for any person to ship, mail, transport, or receive the product of human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology knowing that it will be used for human cloning. H.R. 2650 also makes it illegal for any person to initiate a pregnancy to facilitate human cloning.

* Mr. Speaker, by a wide margin Americans believe that human cloning is wrong and immoral. It is also highly inefficient. More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have compromised immune system and higher rates of infections, tumors, and other disorders.

* Studies conducted in Japan show that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died young, and many of them were abnormally large. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have issued formal public statements advising against human reproductive cloning.

* Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 2560 because it reinforces the views and values of the American people. Human beings should be born, not cloned. Bringing a child into this world should be a consecrated act of grace; not a clinical or commercial enterprise. It is one thing to conduct research to find life-saving cures. It is quite another to try and create life in the laboratory. I support the former and oppose the latter.

* For these reasons, I support H.R. 2560 and urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting for its passage.

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