Urgent Congressional Alert and Appeal for Funding for
"No Human Embryo Farms!" Campaign
 

This update is posted Friday, April 26, 2002.

   Our best guess for the timing of Senate action on the Brownback-Landrieu legislation to ban the cloning of human embryos (S. 1899) is the week of May 13 -- but scheduling is always subject to change at the whim of Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who opposes the bill. 
   Any day now, we expect pro-cloning senators such as Ted Kennedy (D-Ma.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to unveil a new bill that they will try to get the media to describe as a "compromise."  Don't be fooled -- it will just be a dressed-up version of the existing "clone and kill" bills -- that is, it will ALLOW the cloning of human embryos and the establishment of what President Bush called human "embryo farms," and prohibit only the implantation of cloned human embryos (thus, requiring their deaths).
   We urge every reader to send faxes and/or e-mails to their two U.S. senators making two key points:  (1)  Urge support for the Brownback-Landrieu bill (S. 1899), which is the only bill that would REALLY ban human cloning, by banning the cloning of human embryos and human "embryo farms."  (2)  Oppose any counterproposals, such as legislation advanced by Senators Specter, Kennedy, Harkin, and Feinstein, that would allow the cloning of human embryos for lethal experimentation, and permit human embryo farms. 
   All senators' offices may be telephoned through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  Information on how to send e-mails and faxes to any given senator can be obtained at the website www.senate.gov .
   This week, a new TV ad campaign against the Brownback-Landrieu bill was begun by "CuresNow," a Hollywood-based group.  The ads feature the characters "Harry" and "Louise," originally made famous in 1993-94 ads sponsored by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) in opposition to the Clinton health plan.  HIAA has strongly protested the new use of the characters (who are played by the same actors), describing it as "identity theft."  (For details, see www.cloninginformation.org)  NRLC and others pointed out that in one ad, "Louise" tells a lie when "Harry" asks if the procedure the bill would ban is "cloning."  Louise answers, "No," as she shakes her head.
   Another group opposed to the ban, the "Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research" (CAMR), has launched a campaign of newspaper and radio ads in numerous states attacking the Brownback-Landrieu bill.  This group is working in close alliance with the biotechnology industry lobby, which this week brought hundreds of executives of biotech firms to Washington, where they lobbied against the Brownback-Landrieu bill.
   NRLC has been running radio ads in support of the bill in eight states.  NRLC would like to extend and expand such advertising activity as the vote approaches.  However, our financial resources do not allow this, unless new donations come in for that purpose.  If you would like to support this critical ad campaign, please reply to this e-mail with a pledge, and send your check to NRLC, "No Embryo Farms Campaign," 512-10th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C.  20004.  Because we are using this money to lobby for this critical legislation, donations are not tax-deductible.
   For further information on the battle human cloning, see www.nrlc.org/Killing_Embryos/Index.html.