This is a Congressional Action Alert from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). For further information, see the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org.

WASHINGTON (July 11, 2002) -- Senators who support human cloning claim to be within two votes of being able to pass a bill that would give the green light to the establishment of human embryo farms in the United States.

NRLC is strongly opposed to this "clone and kill" legislation, which is being pushed by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Tom Daschle (D-SD), and others.

Senators who support this bill, and much of the news media, are misleadingly describing it as a ban on "cloning human beings." In fact, this bill would permit the mass cloning of human embryos for medical research -- and then require federal law enforcement agencies to ensure that every human embryo is killed before reaching the age of 15 days.

Under Senate rules, if 60 senators vote to "invoke cloture" on a bill, it usually will pass quickly and without major amendments. Majority Leader Daschle has said he would bring the bill up as soon as supporters believe they have the 60 votes necessary to prevent Brownback or other anti-cloning senators from blocking it by filibuster.

On June 14, Senator Feinstein said, "We are very close today to that 60 vote necessity to move ahead with it." In late June, it was reported that the pro-cloning forces were privately claiming to have 58 senators pledged to support their bill.

In order to prevent the Senate from approving the clone-and-kill legislation, please communicate with your two U.S. senators. Here are the main points:

• Tell them you are strongly opposed to the clone-and-kill legislation being proposed by Senators Feinstein, Hatch, Specter, and others, that would permit human embryos to be cloned and require that they be killed by age 14 days.
• Tell them that so-called "therapeutic cloning" creates human embryos, and that you are opposed to creating human embryos for the purpose of killing them. Tell them that a vote for the Feinstein-Hatch-Specter proposal is a vote to permit human embryo farms, and that you are strongly opposed to this.
• Tell them that you are also opposed to giving the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies the unethical task of making sure that human embryos are killed.

Other Steps to Take

• Please urge your fellow citizens to communicate with the senators. Utilize newsletters, church bulletins, call-in radio shows, and other means to alert pro-life citizens to this crucial fight. Also, write letters or op-ed essays for local newspapers, highlighting the critical votes that senators may soon cast on the issue of human embryo farms.
• Visit the Legislative Action Center at the NRLC website (www.nrlc.org) frequently for updates on this crucial congressional battle. Any pro-life citizen can visit the NRLC website, type in a home zip code, learn who represents him or her in Congress, and send them e-mails on the spot (or obtain information for regular mail, faxes, or phone calls).

HOW TO CONTACT VIRGINIA SENATORS

• Regular U.S. mail to Capitol Hill is often delayed for security reasons. We encourage you to use e-mail, faxes, and phone calls.
  
  
• 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.

  Important Request

  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.

  Please do not assume that NRLC already has the information! Often, senators first reveal their leanings in interviews with their home-state news media, or in letters to their own constituents. By promptly forwarding such information to NRLC, you can provide invaluable assistance to NRLC's lobbying efforts.

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