Sam Brownback: “we are going to open a debate in the U.S. Senate on the future of humanity. I asked the clerk to read the entirety of…”

“we are going to open a debate in the U.S. Senate on the future of humanity. I asked the clerk to read the entirety of the amendment because I wanted people to know what is pending now. The issue is a very narrow and a very clear one. It is about whether or not we allow the patenting of people. This is an issue that is pending. There are at least three different patents in front of the Patent Office. The issue of whether you can patent human life or the process of creating human life is a question that is a live one in front of our Government, in front of our people. As I mentioned, there are three pending today. There are likely to be many more. This is a narrow subsection of the overall issue on human cloning. This is not the issue about a moratorium on cloning. It is not the issue about a ban on human cloning. It is not the issue about therapeutic cloning. This is about whether or not we as a government will allow a person, a human in any stage or age of its development and growth, to be patented. Currently, the Patent Office is rejecting these patents, saying they have that authority under the 13th amendment to the Constitution. That is the amendment that bans slavery. I happen to think the Patent Office is on good ground to be able to say that they cannot allow these patents because this would be slavery.”