CLONING INFORMATION

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Flip-Flops on Cloning

The Federal Document Clearing House
TRANSCRIPT
April 10, 2002

NEWS CONFERENCE

U.S. SENATOR THOMAS DASCHLE (D-SD)
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
WASHINGTON, D.C.

DASCHLE: Good morning everybody.

[Senator Daschle begins with commenting on other Senate business.]

The president, as you know, is going to be making his -- again his opposition to cloning and stem cell research known. He's going to be making public statements today. We completely agree with his opposition to cloning for the purposes of creating human beings.

There is resolute, determined universal opposition to cloning for creation of human beings.

We differ strongly, however, in the need to allow science and research to cure disease such as cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and diabetes. That's where the fissure is, that's where the break is, the chasm. We believe we need to continue that research and we're joined by more than 40 Nobel Prize Laureates who sent a letter that we are handing out this morning, and all of those who signed the letter are attached. But I think one of the -- the most important two sentences -- I'll read just two:

``Legislation, such as that introduced by Senator Brownback, which the president is endorsing, would foreclose the legitimate use of nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes.''

And here's the key sentence: ``This would impede progress against some of the most debilitating diseases known to man.''

So that's the issue: Do we impede progress in some of the most debilitating diseases known to man or do we allow research to go forward as long as we ban human cloning? That's the question. And I hope that we will show, with clarity, our intention to allow research and science to cure these diseases in our lifetime. That's what our hope is. We actually hold out the possibility of curing Parkinson's, curing diabetes, curing Alzheimer's disease, curing cancer. But whether or not we do depends on whether or not we will have the research and the ability to provide scientists the opportunity to find those cures soon. We can do that and we can ban human cloning.

The president wants to ban it all and I think he's wrong and I think the American people are on our side on this issue. 

The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report,
Aug 02, 2001

National Politics & Policy | Senate Majority Leader Daschle Says He's 'Very Uncomfortable' with Human Cloning

One day after the House approved a ban on human cloning for both reproductive and research purposes, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said that he is "very uncomfortable" with the practice, the New York Times reports. Daschle said yesterday, "This is going to be one of the most far-reaching scientific decisions in public policy that we will make for a long time to come. I think virtually every one of my Senate colleagues is opposed to human cloning. I'm very uncomfortable with even cloning for research purposes." The Times reports that Daschle's remarks "suggest that a broad cloning ban may pass the Senate," even though Daschle said he would "move slower" on cloning legislation than on legislation concerning federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. But Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), author of a bill (S 790) that would ban cloning for all purposes, said that if Daschle did not "quickly" bring a vote on the cloning issue, he would "force a debate" on the topic when the Senate considered the issue of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The Times reports that as lawmakers weigh the issues of stem cell research and cloning, they "may feel obliged to trade a vote against therapeutic cloning -- cloning used to further research on possible cures for debilitating diseases -- for one in favor of [federal funding for] embryonic stem cell research." (Mitchell/Stolberg, New York Times, 8/2)

Note: Typeface in bold above is added emphasis and was not in the original transcripts.