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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E315-E316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRAFFICKING BABIES' BODIES AND ORGANS
______
HON. BOB SCHAFFER
of colorado
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, the selling of aborted baby body parts for
monetary consideration of any kind is evil. Unfortunately, this kind of
commerce is one to which the Federal Government is enabler,
facilitator, and partner. Although the current law hints against
profiteering in the horrific destruction and dissection of babies for
their tissue and organs, the weakly worded prohibition allows
unscrupulous merchants to proceed without pause.
Equally egregious and unconscionable is the Federal Government's
involvement in the exploitation of mothers and destruction of babies in
the name of research. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and their researchers at
the NIH are major buyers and users in this fundamentally immoral trade
in aborted baby body parts.
President George Bush banned Federal involvement in such
merchandising in 1988. Currently, 10 States outlaw embryo harvesting.
Clinton can attempt to mitigate the moral, ethical, and constitutional
damage he and his administration have wrought upon the fiber and
foundation of our great country by reinstating the Federal ban,
eliminating Federal support for experimentation with aborted baby body
parts, and closing the for-profit loophole.
Mr. Speaker, I hereby submit for the Record the following letter I
posted to Bill Clinton urging him to respect the fundamental right of
all human beings, namely, the Right to Life, and completely stop the
destruction of any human being for ``research.''
[[Page E316]]
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 6, 2000.
William J. Clinton,
President of the United States, The White House, Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
Dear President Clinton: In the waning days of your last
term in office, you can still correct your unfortunate
decision to allow the grossly immoral business of selling
baby body parts for so-called ``fetal tissue'' research.
Congress will soon hold hearings, and I ask you to join me in
this effort to end the ongoing destruction of babies for the
purpose of harvesting their tissue and organs.
As you know, President George Bush demonstrated great moral
courage by banning federal funding of ``fetal tissue''
research. Unfortunately, in 1993 you signed the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act (P.L. 103-43)
into law, effectively lifting the previous ban and allowing
the egregious and inhumane trafficking of baby body parts in
the name of ``research.''
Distressingly, a number of private companies have sought to
meet the demand of public and private research facilities for
baby body parts. As outrageous as that practice is, many
companies have exploited the vague language within the NIH
Revitalization Act to sell these gruesome remnants of
abhorrent abortive procedures for profit.
Although the NIH Revitalization Act made it a federal
felony for any person to knowingly purchase or sell baby body
parts for ``valuable consideration,'' it did not define the
term to include ``reasonable payments associated with the
transportation, implantation, processing, preservation,
quality control, or storage'' of baby body parts. (P.L. 103-
43, Sec. 112) Clearly, such loose language has given private
merchants the incentive and means to evade federal law and
felony charges while prospering through the harvesting and
selling of tissue and organs from aborted babies.
Modern America has apparently not learned the lessons of
World War II. Then, the possessions of massacred Jewish
people, including the gold fillings in their teeth, were
sold, often for profit, by unscrupulous and evil
perpetrators. Barbaric experiments were performed on
innocent, living human beings by their Nazi captors.
As a Representative to the United States Congress for
Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, I am doing
everything I can to end this malignant practice, whether it
is for profit or for any ``reasonable payments.'' That is why
I have repeatedly spoken against this horrendous commerce and
called on Congress to hold hearings to investigate the full
scope of the situation.
The question remains, are you willing to end this
unconscionable research and commerce by closing the loophole
and stopping all activity involving the use of baby body
parts or tissue for research? To kill the innocent and
defenseless in the name of science contradicts and corrupts
the very essence and foundation of our great country.
Please join me in calling for a complete ban on the
destruction of any baby's body for research.
Very truly yours,
Bob Schaffer,
Member of Congress.
____________________
