. >> professor, what have we done scientifically since 1978 when louise brown was born? >> well, a key juncture to place five years later when scientists were able to freeze work prior preserve embryos. so since then we have dealt with the question of the embryos left over from the idea of treatments, many of which will not be used by our parents open to have children . and so that breakthrough have preservation, the ability to pile embryos and use them in resech

. >> the 1978 birth of louise brown. does that compare to the founding of a vaccine for polio, etc. as far as scientific experiments? >> i think so, absolutely. in fact it is a different kind of juncture. it's not another vaccine however important it's the first time in human history that a child is being conceived in a laboratory of side of the womb but it raises all kinds of issues about family life that we've been wrestling with, km, childhood, section of the from and what i focus on in this book is what it means for science and technology and where we want to draw the lines in the past and in the future about the kind of research that we are willing to count with embryos in the laboratory. >> professor banchoff, which you consider embryo politics to be a personal issue, a scientific issue, state issue, religious issue? >> i think it is all of those and as a political scientist most interested in the political dimension but what makes the book different from most political science books is the centrality of ethics and fundamental questions about life and death and human suffering

. >> brown: ann louise bardach, what's your reading of it? it looks as though the pope pushed a bit and then the government pushed back some. what do you see? >> well, i think you have to look at this visit relative to the famous visit in 1998 of john paul, and there was definitely reduced expectations and reduced excitement. with john paul or ron pablo, it was tremendous. it was packed, the plaza of the revolution. it was over one million people. i was in it, and the excitement was palpable. we didn't have that this time. it was a very significant opening, and this one has been--un, the people who really wanted to go were the dissident and opposition voices in cuba, and they were barred from going, some of whom were arrested in the days previous, and a lot of people who didn't want to go were bussed in. so there's a certain irony there, but definitely benedict is not john paul. but it's an opening, and in some ways, it enhances the role of the catholic church and the archbishop of havana, enhances their role as most important n.g.o. in cuba.

. >> brown: ann louise bardach, what's your reading of it? it looks as though the pope pushed a bit and then the government pushed back some. what do you see? >> well, i think you have to look at this visit relative tort n.g.o. in cuba. >> brown: nick miroff, tell us a little bit more about that, about the role of the church, ien, how it has changed. how much clout does it have? >> well, ironically, even though i think, you know, the number of cubans who regularly attend mass is something like less than 10%, the institutional profile of the church has increased in recent years, and that's mostly because the cuban government, especially raul castro, has sought and that is interested, i think, in having a partner who can help both cope with the changes that the-- the economic changes that the government is trying to do here, and generate support for those types of reforms, and, also, i think the government is very much worried about what they would call an erosion in values, and is also looking to the church for help, and trying to find common

reid, senator brown and all of our colleagues here on both sides of the aisle who worked so hard to pass this legislation. i also want to thank my colleague from new york, congress woman louise slaughter who fought so hard and long towards this effort. this legislation was a rare instance where 96 senators came together to deliver results for the american people. we passed a strong bill with teeth that will clearly and expressly make it illegal for members of congress, their staff and their families to gain personal profits from nonpublic information gained through their service. i strongly believe that we have to make it clear that no one is above the law and that members of congress need to play by the exact same rules as every other american. it's simply the right thing to do. this is a commonsense bill, and americans can be assured that our only interest is in their interest. when president obama signs the stock act, we will have begun to restore some of the public's faith in washington. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. i would ask t