Jon L. Christensen: “the issue of human cloning is one that understandably causes grave concern and often heated opposition. But we in our…”

“the issue of human cloning is one that understandably causes grave concern and often heated opposition. But we in our position as leaders have the responsibility not only to ensure that this developing and promising technology that can revolutionize the art of healing, is not used for nefarious purposes, but to also educate and inform the public on the issue. Today I rise in support of H.R. 801, the Greenwood-Deutsch Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003, because it makes the critical distinctions and provides the hope that the people of this country are looking for. We don't ever want to clone human beings, but we do want to use the technology termed, ``human somatic cell transfer'' as the vital tool it is, to allow scientists to fully develop the wonderful promise of stem cell research. I applaud my colleagues for their leadership in bringing this alternative bill forward. It should be the primary, and really the one bill before us today. As a physician I look forward to the day when we can cure diseases such as sickle cell disease, make the quadriplegic walk again, and successfully treat or reverse so many other diseases for which this was still an impossible dream I was in practice. To pass H.R. 534 would not only cost our nation its standing as the world leader in health technology, but passing that base bill would kill this dream, and with it the hope of life and health for countless of our constituents.”