This is an urgent congressional alert from the National Right to Life Committee in Washington, D.C., released on April 16, 2002.

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2002) -- One of the most important pro-life votes ever conducted in the U.S. Senate will occur before May 24. The Senate will vote on whether to ban the cloning of human embryos.

For a detailed report on recent developments, see "In Historic Speech, President Bush Urges U.S. Senate to Ban Human Embryo Cloning," which is posted on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org.

Please urge ALL U.S. senators to support S. 1899, sponsored by Senators Sam Brownback and Mary Landrieu. The Brownback-Landrieu bill is the ONLY bill that would really ban human cloning.

Urge them to oppose "clone and kill" legislation that would permit the cloning of human embryos but require that they be killed in experimentation (such as bills proposed by Senators Feinstein, Kennedy, Harkin, Specter, and Dorgan). These bills would permit the establishment of human "embryo farms" and the mass destruction of human embryos.

And, urge your fellow citizens to do the same. Time is short.

ACTION REQUIRED

Because of heightened security on Capitol Hill, regular mail is being delayed for long periods, and SHOULD NOT BE relied on at this time.

Information on how to send e-mails to a specific senator, and in some cases fax numbers, may be obtained at the website www.senate.gov. (Always be sure to include your regular return mailing address in e-mails, so that the senator's staff can see that you are a constituent.) This website will lead you to the home pages of your own senator's, where contact information is available.

Please utilize newsletters, church bulletins, call-in radio shows, and other means to alert other pro-life citizens to this crucial fight. Also, write short letters to the letters columns of local newspapers, highlighting the critical votes that senators will soon cast.

HERE ARE THE KEY MESSAGE POINTS

• Urge the senators to vote for the bill (S. 1899) backed by President Bush and sponsored by Senators Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) [pronounced "land-rew"]. THIS IS THE ONLY BILL THAT REALLY BANS ALL FORMS OF HUMAN CLONING. A current list of cosponsors of the bill appears below.
  
  
• Don't be deceived by senators who say that they oppose "the cloning of human beings," but support some bill other than Brownback-Landrieu! The Brownback-Landrieu bill is the ONLY bill that bans the cloning of human embryos. Urge the senators to oppose the counterproposals, such as those sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) (S. 1893) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Ma.) (S. 1758), or any new proposal that would permit the cloning of human embryos and the establishment of human embryo farms. These bills are falsely labeled as bans on "human cloning," but in reality they allow human embryos to be created by cloning, while making it a crime to allow any such human embryo to live by implanting him or her in a womb. These "clone and kill" sham bills must be defeated before the Senate can pass a true ban on human cloning.
  
  
• If you obtain information on any senator's position (including information reported in the press), please forward it to NRLC by e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com (preferred), or by fax to (202) 347-3668, or by regular mail to NRLC, Federal Legislation, 512-10th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004-1401.

HOW TO CONTACT VIRGINIA SENATORS

• PHONE CALLS to Virginia Senators: Senator Allen can be reached at 202-224-4024; Senator Warner can be reached at 202-224-2023. Other senators can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Once connected, explain that you are a constituent, politely convey your position, and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.
  
  
• E-MAIL can be sent to Virginia Senators using these hot links for Senator George Allen and Senator John Warner. E-mail addresses for other senators are available from the Senate website at www.senate.gov. Be sure to include your regular mailing address in the text of your e-mails, so that the senators know that the message comes from constituents.
  
  
• FAXES can be sent to Virginia Senator Allen at 202-224-5432, and Senator Warner at 202-224-2023.
  
  
• REGULAR MAIL can be sent to Senator ___________, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. BUT REGULAR MAIL IS CURRENTLY BEING DELAYED BY SECURITY MEASURES AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED ON.
  
  
• PUBLIC EVENTS: Senators often visit their home states to participate in public events. Pro-life citizens should take advantage of any opportunities to speak directly with senators about this urgent issue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information on the human cloning issue is available on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org under "Federal Legislation: Killing Human Embryos" (www.nrlc.org/Killing_Embryos/Index.html).

A number of excellent factsheets on the human cloning issue have been issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They are available at the USCCB website at www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/factsheets.htm.

In addition, "Americans to Ban Cloning," a coalition of anti-cloning groups, maintains an excellent website that contains much useful information: www.cloninginformation.org.

DON'T ASSUME

* On the other hand, do not assume that every pro-life senator will automatically vote for the Brownback legislation. Some are inclined to follow the claims of the biotech lobby and some research advocacy groups that so-called "therapeutic cloning" is necessary to advance medical science. It is important that these senators understand that a vote in favor of a clone-and-kill bill is a vote in favor of human embryo farms and the establishment of a new industry based on the creation and patenting of members of the species homo sapiens for profit.

SENATE SPONSORS OF THE GOOD AND BAN CLONING BILLS

The following 29 U.S. Senators had sponsored the genuine ban on human cloning (S. 1899), sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) (in order of state): Shelby (R-Al.), Sessions (R-Al.), Murkowski (Ak.), Hutchinson (R-Ar.), Kyl (R-Az.), Allard (R-Co.), Grassley (R-Iowa), Bunning (R-Ky.), Craig (R-Id.), Crapo (R-Id.), Fitzgerald (R-Il.), McConnell (R-Ky.), Landrieu (D-La.), Lott (R-Ms.), Bond (R-Mo.), Burns (R-Mt.), Hagel (R-Ne.), Ensign (R-Nv.), Gregg (R-NH), Robert Smith (R-NH), Helms (R-NC), DeWine (R-Ohio), Voinovich (R-Ohio), Nickles (R-Ok.), Inhofe (R-Ok.), Santorum (R-Pa.), Enzi (R-Wy.), and Bennett (R-Utah).

Four senators have sponsored the competing "clone and kill" bill (S. 1893) introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). This bill is misleadingly labeled as a "human cloning prohibition," but in reality it would permit so-called "therapeutic cloning" -- that is, it would allow the cloning of human embryos, but forbid these embryos to be placed in a womb. Harkin's cosponsors are Boxer (D-Ca.), Reid (D-Nv.), and Specter (R-Pa.).

In addition, eight senators have sponsored the similar "clone and kill" bill (S. 1758) introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.). The sponsors are, in addition to Feinstein: Boxer (D-Ca.), Miller (D-Ga.), Durbin (D-Il.), Mikulski (D-Md.), Kennedy (D-Ma.), Corzine (D-NJ), and Clinton (D-NY).

On April 9, 2002, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a third bill (S. 2076) that would prohibit only the implantation of cloned human embryos but not their creation (thereby, in effect, establishing a "clone and kill" policy). Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) co-sponsored that bill on April 12.

You can obtain up-to-date lists of the cosponsors and status of these bills (or any other congressional legislation) on the congressional website known as "Thomas," at thomas.loc.gov.

VSHL is the Virginia affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.