Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Federal Government should advocate for and join an international effort to prohibit human cloning; and (2) the President should commission a study by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission or a successor group of the arguments for and against the use of cloning to produce human embryos solely for research.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 790 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 790
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit human cloning.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 26, 2001
Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Smith of New Hampshire)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit human cloning.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Human Cloning Prohibition Act of
2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) some individuals have announced that they will attempt
to clone human beings using the technique known as somatic cell
nuclear transfer already used with limited success in cloning
sheep and other animals;
(2) nearly all scientists agree that such attempts pose a
massive risk of producing children who are stillborn,
unhealthy, or severely disabled, and considered opinion is
virtually unanimous that such attempts are therefore grossly
irresponsible and unethical;
(3) efforts to create human beings by cloning mark a new
and decisive step toward turning human reproduction into a
manufacturing process in which children are made in
laboratories to preordained specifications and, potentially, in
multiple copies;
(4) creating cloned live-born human children (sometimes
called ``reproductive cloning'') begins by creating cloned
human embryos, a process which some also propose as a way to
create embryos for research or as sources of cells and tissues
for possible treatment of other humans;
(5) the prospect of creating new human life solely to be
exploited and destroyed in this way has been condemned on moral
grounds by many, as displaying a profound disrespect for life,
and recent scientific advances indicate that there are fruitful
and morally unproblematic alternatives to this approach;
(6)(A) it will be nearly impossible to ban attempts at
``reproductive cloning'' once cloned human embryos are
available in the laboratory because--
(i) cloning would take place within the privacy of
a doctor-patient relationship;
(ii) the transfer of embryos to begin a pregnancy
is a simple procedure; and
(iii) any government effort to prevent the transfer
of an existing embryo, or to prevent birth once
transfer has occurred would raise substantial moral,
legal, and practical issues; and
(B) so, in order to be effective, a ban on human cloning
must stop the cloning process at the beginning; and
(7) collaborative efforts to perform human cloning are
conducted in ways that affect interstate and even international
commerce, and the legal status of cloning will have a great
impact on how biotechnology companies direct their resources
for research and development.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON HUMAN CLONING.
(a) In General.--Title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after chapter 15, the following:
``CHAPTER 16--HUMAN CLONING
``Sec.
``301. Definitions.
``302. Prohibition on human cloning.
``Sec. 301. Definitions
``In this chapter:
``(1) Human cloning.--The term `human cloning' means human
asexual reproduction, accomplished by introducing the nuclear
material of a human somatic cell into a fertilized or
unfertilized oocyte whose nucleus has been removed or
inactivated to produce a living organism (at any stage of
development) with a human or predominantly human genetic
constitution.
``(2) Somatic cell.--The term `somatic cell' means a
diploid cell (having a complete set of chromosomes) obtained or
derived from a living or deceased human body at any stage of
development.
``Sec. 302. Prohibition on human cloning
``(a) In General.--It shall be unlawful for any person or entity,
public or private, in or affecting interstate commerce--
``(1) to perform or attempt to perform human cloning;
``(2) to participate in an attempt to perform human
cloning; or
``(3) to ship or receive the product of human cloning for
any purpose.
``(b) Importation.--It shall be unlawful for any person or entity,
public or private, to import the product of human cloning for any
purpose.
``(c) Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--Any person or entity that is convicted
of violating any provision of this section shall be fined under
this section or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
``(2) Civil penalty.--Any person or entity that is
convicted of violating any provision of this section shall be
subject to, in the case of a violation that involves the
derivation of a pecuniary gain, a civil penalty of not less
than $1,000,000 and not more than an amount equal to the amount
of the gross gain multiplied by 2, if that amount is greater
than $1,000,000.
``(d) Scientific Research.--Nothing in this section shall restrict
areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited by this
section, including research in the use of nuclear transfer or other
cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human
embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or animals other than humans.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part I of title
18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating
to chapter 15 the following:
``16. Human Cloning......................................... 301''.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Federal Government should advocate for and join an
international effort to prohibit human cloning, as defined in
section 301 of title 18, United States Code, as added by this
Act; and
(2) the President should commission a study, to be
conducted by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission or a
successor group, of the arguments for and against the use of
cloning to produce human embryos solely for research, which
study should--
(A) include a discussion of the need (if any) for
human cloning to produce medical advances, the ethical
and legal aspects of human cloning, and the possible
impact of any decision to permit human cloning for
research upon efforts to prevent human cloning for
reproductive purposes;
(B) include a review of new developments in cloning
technology which may require that technical changes be
made to section 3 of this Act, to maintain the
effectiveness of this Act in prohibiting the asexual
production of a new human organism that is genetically
virtually identical to an existing or previously
existing human being; and
(C) be submitted to Congress and the President for
review not later than 5 years after the date of
enactment of this legislation.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science Technology and Space. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 107-1050.
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