Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, today, the House is faced with one of the most complex and potentially far-reaching medical and ethical…”

“Mr. Speaker, today, the House is faced with one of the most complex and potentially far-reaching medical and ethical issues it will ever face. As a body, we should have time to examine the ramifications of the many issues involved in cloning, time for deliberative judgment, time for exploring alternatives and crafting enforceable legislation. But today, we are not being given that time, and that is why we must reject this rule. We are being given less than 3 hours today when most Members have not had the time to understand and explore the potent ramifications of this issue to decide an issue which will not only impact tens of millions of Americans today, but will also impact future generations. Cloning is one of the most important and far-reaching issues we will examine in our public service. Its impact may be incalculable. Cloning will alter our world. It is true that powerful, potent and perhaps dangerous research efforts currently proceed unchecked. Technological knowledge grows exponentially with new and important results announced daily. The rush of data creates a surging, uncontrolled current that finds its own course. We must not legislate long after the damage has been done, and that is why we need to try to find a way to have foresight and vision, providing leadership for others around the world. We must find a way to ban human cloning, while allowing research to continue.”