Rick Renzi

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) for reintroducing H.R. 534, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003. The American public needs to be made aware of the political spin and propaganda that the so-called medical research community is using to deceive us. The cloned sheep, Dolly, was created by the cloning procedure called somatic cell nuclear transfer. Some want to use this procedure for research on humans which they now call ``therapeutic cloning.'' As the debate has intensified, what was called human cloning is now referred to as ``nuclear transplantation.'' I ask my fellow Americans not to be deceived by their words which are designed to be politically correct. Those who want to perform therapeutic cloning claim that the future holds cures to many of the diseases that ail our human society. This argument plays to the hearts and minds of compassionate Americans. It hits all the political hot buttons and it makes it seem as though human cloning is a great discovery in our day and age that will cure cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and even keep our country safe from the terrorists by identifying the origins of germ and biological weapons. However, creating cloned human embryos raises the real possibility that one day they will be implanted into a woman's uterus to create a human cloned baby. Over 95 percent of all animal clonings attempted end in failure; and, like Dolly the sheep, cloned animals have genetic abnormalities. Most scientists agree that human cloning poses a serious risk of producing babies that are stillborn, unhealthy, and have severe malformations. Let us not forget the ethical problems associated with human cloning. Cloning is entirely unsafe to practice on human beings because it poses serious risks to the developing cloned baby and to pregnant women due to genetic abnormalities. The attempts to perfect human cloning despite the high risk of injury would constitute a violation of the fundamental principles of all medical research to do no harm. Research cloning will not only make reproductive cloning more likely, it is unethical. Regardless of what you think about the moral status of human embryos, human beings should not be created solely for research. Human cloning for research involves the creation of a human cloned embryo to be bought, sold and stripped, and exploited for its many parts. Such proponents have crossed the ethical line universally adopted even by supporters of embryo stem cell research. As always, in simplicity we find the truth. Human cloning, whether for research or reproduction, involves the creation of a new human life. We have reached a point in our Nation's history where arrogant scientists and medical researchers have become so emboldened with the race to become the first to genetically manipulate human life that they have set aside all standards of human decency, morality, and ethics. They rush to usher in a new era in which genetic alteration of human life is common place; and, therefore, they become the creators of human life. They become the idols of their peers. I urge my colleagues to not allow such a gross violation of human dignity.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I take it then from the gentleman's answer that we have no proof that any cures to human beings, never mind even animals, exist; and by the chart the gentleman showed, it actually accelerates the aging of an animal and actually leads to faster death, then. So rather than cure life, it leads to a faster death. Could I respond also to a portion of the gentleman's statement as it relates to some of the break-throughs that have been claimed, and could I ask that the gentleman look at a piece from a letter that was also recently sent around, and I quote: Cloning is widely used. It is widely used. It is a vital medical tool that has allowed scientists and researchers to develop powerful new drugs, produce insulin, useful bacteria in the lab, track the origins of biological weapons, catch criminals, and free innocent people. It even produces new plants and livestock to help feed and nourish the poor of our world. In addition to wanting to alleviate pain and suffering, I consider myself a compassionate American who wants to help save our world, and it sounds like cloning is going to do just that. The gentleman's bill, of course, would not ban this type of cloning that was going to save our world, would it?

Mr. RENZI. I wanted to ask, we have got a good colleague within our own party who has addressed also this subject matter. Could I ask if you are aware or do you know if the Greenwood bill would ban human reproductive cloning?

Mr. RENZI. I would like to go back to the letter that the Coalition for Medical Research has put out. There is an interesting quote also in the body of that letter that addresses somatic cell nuclear transfer as being, quote, ``a research technique to develop cells that can be used to treat or cure chronic and degenerative diseases and disorders.'' They claim the process has nothing to do with sexual reproduction and that its sole purpose is research to meet unmet medical needs. The way I read this, sir, it sounds to me like we are not creating human embryos. Where are we? Are we creating human embryos, or are we not creating human embryos?

Mr. RENZI. The fact being, then, that they are creating human life, they are exploiting a human embryo, and that they are using this term ``somatic cell nuclear transfer'' as a new terminology to come back in and try and legalize or try and establish human cloning as being something that should be legal in America. Could I ask, please, the Coalition for Medical Research that we are discussing talks about moving stem cell research forward and that somatic cell nuclear transfer could bring new hope to nearly 1 million Americans suffering from, and now we move to the type of diseases which really tug at the heart strings of America. They are citing cancer would be cured, Alzheimer's, diabetes, hepatitis, Parkinson's disease. The only thing left off here is AIDS. And so I would ask you, is this not similar to the type of promises that we saw 10 years ago when we were debating fetal tissue research, the idea that that would bring us all the type of breakthroughs that would cure what ails our human population? Are we not seeing the same sort of propaganda? Are we not seeing the same sort of promises where in over 10 years since fetal tissue research, we really have seen very little, if at all, any kind of great scientific breakthroughs?

Mr. RENZI. I am grateful, sir. I want to congratulate and applaud the gentleman from Florida for his substantive argument tonight based on fact. There is not a lot of emotional rhetoric there. It is truly your research that contains the truth and not their research which contains false hopes and, I believe, propaganda. I would like to mention that the lobbyists who cloak themselves in the guise of medical research do an injustice and mislead our American public. It is you who play upon our American compassion to help those in pain and relieve those in suffering in order that you may promote an immoral agenda. The morality argument has been made much tonight, but it is you who want to create human life in a petri dish only to genetically engineer it to die 14 days later. This is not medical research. This is you scientists creating defective human American life and that is mutant life. I abhor your objectives in order that you might bring prestige to yourself. I urge my colleagues to reject those scientists who lack the wisdom to recognize human life in favor of garnering international acclaim among their peers for their morbid scientific breakthroughs.

Mr. RENZI. The letter that the gentleman and I are discussing and the portions of the letter and the quotes that we have gone over together, this letter from the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research; has the gentleman seen the quote which addresses the leading scientists and even two prestigious committees on the National Academy of Sciences that have agreed that cloning to reproduce humans should be illegal but that somatic cell nuclear transfer or therapeutic cloning should be permitted? My question is that it is my understanding that these panels included no bioethics experts and even that they considered the ethical debate, the morality in question, to be something that should be left up for others to debate.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to engage the gentleman from Florida in a colloquy if he would not mind, please.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I have seen and heard a lot of rhetoric, and recently we had a letter that was sent around by one of our colleagues that favors the research, if we can call it that, on behalf of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. And I have got some serious questions and doubts as to the truth. One of our colleagues says that their position is reasonable, and his letter goes on to state that somatic cell nuclear transfer is not the science fiction you see in movies but, rather, a reasonable and appropriate way to alleviate the horror faced by patients suffering from deadly and painful disease. Pain and disease is something that all Americans are passionate about, and I would ask my colleague, then, what cures, in light of this great new technology, have occurred using somatic cell nuclear transfer, if he does not mind.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, in the sun-soaked regions of Arizona, the most precious natural resource is not gold, nor is it silver. It is a priceless commodity, whose worth is not determined by its luster or quality, but by its volume and quantity. Even the world's most talented scientists are unable to replicate it, and it cannot be manufactured by machine. It is water that sustains us and shapes our future to come. Without this gift of life, in the form of summer monsoon rain and high-mountain snowmelt, our lands would be uninhabitable and our lives impossible. The Salt River Valley, which runs from eastern through central Arizona, is a main artery that carries within it the life-blood of the state. More than 2000 years ago, its lush banks were the home of the first people of Arizona, the Hohokam, who created an intricate network of irrigation canals that gave life to their communities. Today, after countless natural cycles of alternating seasonal drought and flood, life, death and renewal, the early ingenuity of the Hohokam people lives on through the vision of the founders and 4,300 employees of the Salt River Project, the largest provider of surface water in Arizona and the nation's third-largest public power utility. The Salt River Project began in 1903 when an association of landowners in the Phoenix area, frustrated by their inability to manage the water supply for their crops and cattle, incorporated their properties as collateral toward a federal loan under the National Reclamation Act. This community corporation led to the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, the largest structure of its day, and the foundation for a prosperous local economy and municipal infrastructure that was able to control the source and supply of its most valuable natural commodity. In the century following this initial project, the focus and scope of the Salt River Project has grown to include a number of major power plants and generating facilities in Arizona and the Southwest that use thermal, hydroelectric and nuclear reaction for power production. Every day, Salt River Project's modern network of dams and power generating plants deliver water to more than one million residents and serve electricity to more than 780,000 customers at some of the lowest prices among major utilities in the Southwest, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This attention to customer needs has earned Salt River Project accolades inside and outside of the energy and water industry. As a result of the region's continuing capacity for development and efficient water management, census figures have shown Arizona's growth rate to be one of the fastest in the nation, with a 40 percent increase in population during the 1990's. The prosperity and quality of life that is presently enjoyed by every citizen of the great state of Arizona, is a testament to the vision of the founders of the Salt River Project and a legacy that has endured for the past one hundred years through the actions of its current and past employees. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Salt River Project on the hundredth anniversary of its founding and to honor those individuals who have participated in bringing the precious gift of water to our desert environment.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Congressman J.D. Hayworth and myself, I rise today to introduce legislation to facilitate two land exchanges in the Tonto and Coconino National Forests in Arizona's First Congressional District. Congressman J.D. Hayworth sponsored similar legislation in the 107th Congress that unanimously passed the House. The legislation authorizes the Montezuma Castle land exchange and the Diamond Point land exchange. In the Montezuma Castle land exchange, the Forest Service will acquire a 157-acre parcel of private land adjacent to Montezuma Castle National Monument and the 108-acre Double Cabin Park parcel, both in the Coconino National Forest. An Arizona partnership, the Montezuma Castle Land Exchange Joint Venture, will acquire approximately 122 acres of National Forest System land adjacent to the town of Payson's municipal airport. The town of Payson has entered into an agreement to purchase a portion of this land to create private sector business development and job opportunities. Mr. Speaker, this exchange will protect riparian areas along Beaver Creek, the view-shed for the Montezuma Castle National Monument, and it will transfer Double Cabin Park to Federal ownership. In addition to the Payson land, this legislation facilitates the Diamond Point land exchange. The Forest Service will acquire a 495-acre parcel, known as the Q Ranch, in an area where previous acquisitions have been completed and Federal land has been consolidated. In exchange, the Diamond Point Summer Homes Association will acquire 108 acres of Federal land that have been occupied since the 1950's by the association's 45 residential cabins. The land exchanges in this legislation are supported by the town of Payson, the Gila County Board of Supervisors, the Rim County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Payson Regional Economic Development Corporation and the National Park Service. Mr. Speaker, this legislation benefits local communities, the Federal Government and the American taxpayer. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation for the First District of Arizona.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Representatives Kolbe, Pastor, Hayworth and Grijalva, I rise today to introduce the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003. Senators Kyl and McCain will be introducing the Senate version of this important legislation. The Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003 codifies the settlement of the Zuni Indian Tribe's water rights for its religious lands in northeastern Arizona. The Zuni Heaven Reservation was created by Congress in 1984 to protect and recognize long-standing religious activities by the Zuni Tribe. This legislation would go one step further and provide the Zuni Tribe with the resources to acquire water rights and to restore and protect the wetland environment that previously existed on the Zuni Reservation. It's important to note that the Zuni Tribe will acquire water rights from willing sellers. In return, the Zuni Tribe will waive its claims in the Little Colorado River Adjudication. The Zuni Tribe will also waive claims against any future water uses in the Little Colorado River basin and grandfather existing uses. This legislation will not only avoid costly litigation by the United States, but it will allow the United States government to satisfy its trust responsibilities to the Zuni Tribe regarding water on the Zuni Reservation. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the work of the parties to the Zuni Settlement. The parties consist of rural communities in the First District of Arizona, including the City of St. Johns, the Town of Eagar and the Town of Springerville. In addition, the State of Arizona, specifically, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the State Land Department and the Arizona State Parks Board, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power Company, St Johns Irrigation and Ditch Company, the Lyman Water Company and the Round Valley Water Users' Association. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003.