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The CAMR (Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research ) has up-to-date information on the cloning bills in Congress. SEE: www.camradvocacy.org There is an especially good article posted today from the Los Angeles Times: June 17, 2002 Cloning Receives a Makeover Politics: Nuances of language helped reframe the debate and derail an all-out ban in Congress By AARON ZITNER According to the article, Brownback's bill has been stopped by the collaborative efforts of grassroots advocates, researchers, disease and professional organizations to educate the public, the media and the politicians about the scientific facts. It states that among those who changed his veiwpoints was Sen. Majority Leader Daschle: "Daschle last year had said he was "uncomfortable with even cloning for research purposes," but this year he engineered parliamentary maneuvers that have forced Brownback to retreat from a total cloning ban. Explaining his change of heart, Daschle said last week: "What I didn't fully appreciate initially was the tremendous opportunities scientifically there are with the pursuit of therapeutic cloning....And many of us have come to the conclusion we should not only provide that opportunity, we should be encouraging it with additional research dollars." What happens next is uncertain, according to the Times article -- Stay tuned! "... Daschle, who controls the Senate calendar, offered Brownback time last week for a debate and vote on cloning, but under terms that Brownback said would make it hard to get the 60 votes needed to win. Brownback is now considering his options, including whether to propose a two-year moratorium on cloning, rather than a total ban, in an effort to win more votes. It is unclear whether the Senate will vote on a separate measure, sponsored by Hatch, Feinstein and others, that would bar cloning as a way to produce children but preserve it as a legal technique of medical research." see Full text of article at: http://www.camradvocacy.org/fastaction/news.asp?id=319 Linda ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn