House of Representatives - June 16, 2005

Shame on Congress if we do not ban cloning

Mr. Speaker, 

Edmund Burke once said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

I might change that to read: "All that is necessary for human cloning to begin in America is for Congress to do nothing."

When Korean scientists announced last month they had cloned 18 sick people and killed their clones to get their stem cells, some thought that would provide the motivation for the Congress to ban human cloning. 

They were wrong.

The history of cloning is replete with defects, deformities, and death. It took 277 tries to clone Dolly the sheep. That is 276 dead and deformed sheep. And yet Congress does nothing to stop human cloning from happening in America. The House has done very little to force the Senate to act, and the House has yet to take up a bill this year.

Human cloning is wrong and dangerous, no matter what cause it serves. Yet Congress and its leaders refuse to act, content to wait for a politically opportune time for a vote. But scientists are not operating on our electoral timetable. While we wait, cloning is coming down the pike, and it will happen here sooner than we know if we do not act.

Those who would delay and do nothing will bring shame on Congress and on this body if we do not stop it.