Republican Rep. Brian Kerns of Indiana introduced HR 1260, the “Ban on Human Cloning Act,” to ban human cloning in the United States at a congressional hearing today.

“Even if cloning begins with a benign purpose, it could lead to scientific categories of superior and inferior people,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R., Florida.

Brigitte Boisselier, director of Clonaid — an arm of the Raelian Movement, which believes life on Earth stems from genetic engineering by extraterrestrials, said Clonaid hopes to clone a boy who died of a genetic heart defect at 10 months.

Scientists testifying pointed out that this defect would likely be passed on to the clone, making this a risky procedure.