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RE: the latter portion of the article, there is an all out effort spearheading the defeat of Majority Leader, Sen.Tom Daschle (D-Iowa?Idaho?) in the next election by the republican party to regain control of the Senate--Daschle has SERIOUS opposition by a favored candidate in his home State! Charlotte On Wed, 10 Apr 2002 12:25:07 EDT [log in to unmask] writes: > Bush Presses for Human Cloning Ban > > By SCOTT LINDLAW > .c The Associated Press > > WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is pressing the Senate to approve > legislation that would outlaw the cloning of human beings for use in > research > and treatment of diseases. > > Bush long has opposed human cloning. When he announced his decision > in August > to restrict but not forbid federal financing of so-called embryonic > stem cell > research, he said: ``We recoil at the idea of growing human beings > for spare > body parts or creating life for our convenience.'' > > On Wednesday, Bush was speaking to 175 doctors, scientists, > lawmakers, > religious activists and disabled people to mobilize bipartisan > support behind > a complete ban on cloning. Aides said Bush's speech would be > ``reflective'' > on the ethical issues that cloning poses. > > The cloning legislation joins a growing pile of bills that Bush > favors and > that have passed the Republican-controlled House but stalled in the > Democratic-controlled Senate. > > In recent days Bush has stepped up his calls for action on an array > of bills > pending in the Senate, including measures that would increase energy > conservation and exploration, grant him expanded powers in > negotiating trade > pacts and help businesses get terrorism insurance. > > Last July, the House passed a ban on all human cloning - the > production of > embryos that are the genetic twin of a donor. Many in the Senate > oppose using > cloning to create human beings, but support using the process to > create > embryonic stem cells that may be used for research and the potential > treatment of many diseases. > > The use of embryonic stem cells is controversial because extracting > the cells > kills a living human embryo. Bush decided in August that federal > funding > would be permitted only for stem cell cultures that then existed and > which > were made from embryos that were to be discarded by fertility > clinics. > > The movement for a ban got a significant boost Tuesday when Sen. > Bill Frist, > R-Tenn., said he would support the cloning ban legislation, which > the Senate > is expected to debate in the weeks ahead. Though not a surprise, the > announcement from Frist, a heart-transplant surgeon, is important > because his > views on medical topics are respected by many in Congress. > > Creating a human embryo ``for reason of experimentation leads to > destruction > of that embryo and to me that is morally unacceptable,'' Frist told > reporters. > > ``I'm an advocate for embryonic stem cell research and stem cell > research - > tremendous promise for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, for the various > diseases,'' > he said Wednesday on CBS' ``The Early Show.'' ``But that is not the > cloning > of human embryos. I'm for cellular cloning, RNA cloning, DNA > cloning, but not > for cloning of embryos that have to be destroyed'' > > Bush holds a similar view and welcomed Frist's support, the White > House said. > > Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., told an anti-cloning rally on Capitol > Hill > Wednesday that a ban on human embryo cloning was ``clearly a > winnable > issue.'' Standing before a stack of petitions with 400,000 > signatures for a > cloning ban, Brownback said that ``cloning is wrong, period. > Creating human > life to destroy it is wrong.'' > > The cloning debate gained impetus in November when a Massachusetts > company, > Advanced Cell Technology, said it had cloned a human embryo for the > first > time. The company wants to extract stem cells from cloned embryos > that could > be used to grow healthy organs for patients. > > Scientists also are trying to see whether adult stem cells can serve > as > all-around repairmen in the body, thus avoiding killing embryos. > > The public overwhelmingly opposes scientific experimentation on the > cloning > of human beings, according to a new poll that also suggests public > opinion is > mixed on stem cell research. > > Nearly four out of five people opposed cloning, while one-third of > those > polled were against federal funding of stem cell research, according > to the > poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. > > The poll of 2,002 adults was taken Feb. 25-March 10 and had an error > margin > of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. > > Also Wednesday, Bush was mending fences with Bill Simon, the > California Republ > ican gubernatorial candidate whom the White House quietly opposed > last fall. > Simon was getting the royal treatment from the Bush administration, > also > meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney and a battery of Cabinet > officials. > > Simon was a reminder of how the unusual White House strategy of > injecting > itself into primaries can backfire: Bush associates urged Simon to > step aside > in favor of the White House's favored candidate, former Los Angeles > Mayor > Richard Riordan. > > But Riordan lost the primary to Simon last month, leaving the White > House in > the awkward position of embracing a candidate it opposed. > > Bush immediately called Simon after the primary, and has pledged to > help him > raise money for the campaign against the incumbent governor, > Democrat Gray > Davis. The White House is ``totally committed'' to getting Simon > elected > governor, Simon spokesman Jeff Flint said. > > Simon was using a political appeal to renew his plea for > presidential help - > that if he can oust Davis, it will greatly help Bush's own > re-election > prospects in 2004. > > Bush lost California by 13 percentage points to Al Gore in 2000. > > > 04/10/02 11:34 EDT > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn