National Right to Life Criticizes
House Passage of Bill to
Fund Embryo-Killing Research and Rejection of
Anti-Human-Cloning Measure
The
following statement was released by the National Right
to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C., on
Thursday, January 11, 2007, at 5 PM EST. For further
information, contact send e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com
WASHINGTON
(January 11, 2007) -- The U.S. House of Representatives
today approved legislation (H.R. 3) that would mandate
federal funding of the type of stem cell research that
requires the killing of human embryos -- but by a vote
far short of the two-thirds majority that would be
required to override President Bush's veto of the
legislation.
The
House passed H.R. 3 by
a vote of 253-174. This was 32 votes short of a
two-thirds majority. H.R. 3 is the same as a bill
vetoed by President Bush on July 19, 2006; a veto
override attempt failed by 51 votes.
Before
approving H.R. 3, the House rejected an attempt to amend
it to prevent funding of research entities that engage
in research using cloned human embryos. The proposed
amendment (technically called a "motion to recommit with
instructions") was rejected by the key sponsors of H.R.
3, and failed on
a vote of 189-238.
"Every
lawmaker who voted against this bill supports stem cell
research, but not the kind that requires killing human
embryos, and we commend them for that," commented NRLC
Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "Today the key
lawmakers pushing this bill rejected an
anti-human-cloning amendment, which was one more proof
that the biotech industry is determined to use human
cloning to create human embryo farms," said Johnson.
Legislation identical to H.R. 3 has been introduced in
the Senate as S. 5. Senate action on the issue
is expected within a matter of months.
To read
NRLC's January 5 letter to House members in opposition
to the legislation, click
here.
To read
NRLC's January 8 release on recent breakthroughs in
ethical stem cell research (not requiring the killing of
human embryos), click
here.
To read
the White House's January 11 policy statement against
the legislation, click
here.
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