A bipartisan group of prominent politicians — including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — have backed a federal bill that would ban reproductive human cloning without harming embryonic stem cell research. The leaders appeared together Tuesday at a news conference at the UCLA Neuroscience Research Building.Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said Californians showed their support last November for stem cell research by approving a proposition providing $3 billion in state tax-exempt bonds to fund such California-based research for 10 years.Schwarzenegger also said he supports a Senate bill co-sponsored by Feinstein, a Democrat, that would make human reproductive cloning or attempts to clone humans a federal crime. California already has a state law banning human reproductive cloning.Feinstein also urged the Senate to pass a House bill approved by that chamber in May that would expand the number of stem cell lines eligible for federal funding for research.
