Orrin Hatch: “I am very concerned about debating this bill today, a bill which falls within the jurisdiction of the Judiciary…”

“I am very concerned about debating this bill today, a bill which falls within the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, without our having any hearings or other discussion, because there are a lot of complicated issues involved here. I want to let the distinguished Senator from Tennessee know that I support his statements in many respects. I, too, am opposed to cloning of human beings. But at the same time, we have to move very carefully in this area so that we do not preclude a lot of very promising medical technologies and very valuable biomedical research. It may be that amendments are need to clarify that. I maintain an interest in this issue both as Chairman of the Committee under whose jurisdiction this criminal code amendment would fall, and as a Senator with a long-standing interest in biomedical research and ethics. The questions raised by this legislation are both novel and difficult and it behooves us to move carefully.”