Orrin Hatch: “There is so much more to be said about this. We can debate all night about it. I am sure there will come a time for this…”

“There is so much more to be said about this. We can debate all night about it. I am sure there will come a time for this debate, where we can discuss all these matters. But, you know, I am concerned that we not lose this opportunity to help mankind. I remember in the early 1970s, mid-1970s, when recombinant DNA was so heavily lobbied against, the research, and it was another type of cloning research. It was not the same as this, it is not cloning a living mother's egg, but nevertheless, it involved cloning. Similar arguments were made against recombinant DNA research. I have to tell you that we went ahead anyway, the research was done, and today we have over 60 mainline drugs that came from recombinant DNA--cloning--research, not the least of which is human insulin which is saving millions of lives today in this world. In fact, virtually every major scientific breakthrough through history has had those who have argued against it. And there have been some which have not proven efficacious, such as fetal tissue research. I made the arguments on the floor against fetal tissue research at the time. So far, I believe that science has not been able to derive the projected benefits from fetal tissue research. I am not saying I was right; I am just saying the fact is, it did not prove as efficacious as originally thought.”