Senate Struggles With Cloning
Debate
June 21, 2002- The Senate this week inched closer
to considering the issue of human cloning, but stopped short
of taking up any legislative proposals. Speculation has been
mounting since the beginning of the year on when and how the
Senate would consider the two major proposals dealing with
human cloning: S.1899,
introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a bill that
would ban both reproductive and therapeutic cloning; and S.
2439, introduced by Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Edward Kennedy
(D-Mass.), which would prohibit reproductive cloning but permit
research using somatic cell nuclear transfer technology.
Efforts to reach a unanimous consent agreement to determine
the rules governing Senate consideration of these bills reached
an impasse during the week of June 10. In response, Senator
Brownback informed his colleagues that he was considering
a proposal to create a two-year moratorium on therapeutic
cloning. Opponents of a moratorium, including the AAMC, fear
such a proposal is a "back-door" attempt at imposing
a permanent research ban. On June 12, AAMC President Jordan
Cohen, M.D., sent a letter
to the Senate opposing a moratorium.
In another effort to halt research using nuclear transfer,
Senator Brownback offered an anti-cloning patent amendment
to the terrorism insurance bill, S.
2600, to preclude the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(PTO) from granting patents for an organism of human species
at any stage of development produced by any method, a living
organism made by human cloning, and a process of human cloning.
Dr. Cohen sent a letter
on June 18 to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)
opposing the Brownback amendment. On June 18, the Senate voted
65 to 31 to invoke cloture on the bill, eliminating consideration
of the Brownback amendment as non-germane.
Senator Brownback has indicated that he will continue to
seek a vote on the cloning issue by attempting to attach amendments
coming to the Senate floor.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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