THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release May 16, 1997
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN APOLOGY FOR
STUDY DONE IN TUSKEGEE
The East Room 2:26 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, on
Sunday, Mr. Shaw will celebrate his 95th
birthday. (Applause.) I would like to
recognize the other survivors who are here
today and their families: Mr. Charlie
Pollard is here. (Applause.) Mr. Carter
Howard. (Applause.) Mr. Fred Simmons.
(Applause.) Mr. Simmons just took his first
airplane ride, and he reckons he's about 110
years old, so I think it's time for him to
take a chance or two. (Laughter.) I'm glad
he did. And Mr. Frederick Moss, thank you,
sir. (Applause.)
I would also like to ask three family
representatives who are here -- Sam Doner is
represented by his daughter, Gwendolyn Cox.
Thank you, Gwendolyn. (Applause.) Ernest
Hendon, who is watching in Tuskegee, is
represented by his brother, North Hendon.
Thank you, sir, for being here. (Applause.)
And George Key is represented by his
grandson, Christopher Monroe. Thank you,
Chris. (Applause.)
I also acknowledge the families,
community leaders, teachers and students
watching today by satellite from Tuskegee. The White House is the people's house; we
are glad to have all of you here today. I
thank Dr. David Satcher for his role in
this. I thank Congresswoman Waters and
Congressman Hilliard, Congressman Stokes,
the entire Congressional Black Caucus. Dr. Satcher, members of the Cabinet who are
here, Secretary Herman, Secretary Slater,
members of the Cabinet who are here,
Secretary Herman, Secretary Slater. A great
friend of freedom, Fred Gray, thank you for
fighting this long battle all these long
years.
The eight men who are survivors of the
syphilis study at Tuskegee are a living link
to a time not so very long ago that many
Americans would prefer not to remember, but
we dare not forget. It was a time when our
nation failed to live up to its ideals, when
our nation broke the trust with our people
that is the very foundation of our
democracy. It is not only in remembering
that shameful past that we can make amends
and repair our nation, but it is in
remembering that past that we can build a
better present and a better future. And
without remembering it, we cannot make
amends and we cannot go forward.
So today America does remember the
hundreds of men used in research without
their knowledge and consent. We remember
them and their family members. Men who were
poor and African American, without resources
and with few alternatives, they believed
they had found hope when they were offered
free medical care by the United States
Public Health Service. They were betrayed.
Medical people are supposed to help when
we need care, but even once a cure was
discovered, they were denied help, and they
were lied to by their government. Our
government is supposed to protect the rights
of its citizens; their rights were trampled
upon. Forty years, hundreds of men betrayed,
along with their wives and children, along
with the community in Macon County, Alabama,
the City of Tuskegee, the fine university
there, and the larger African American
community.
The United States government did
something that was wrong -- deeply,
profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage
to our commitment to integrity and equality
for all our citizens.
To the survivors, to the wives and family
members, the children and the grandchildren,
I say what you know: No power on Earth can
give you back the lives lost, the pain
suffered, the years of internal torment and
anguish. What was done cannot be undone. But
we can end the silence. We can stop turning
our heads away. We can look at you in the
eye and finally say on behalf of the
American people, what the United States
government did was shameful, and I am sorry.
(Applause.)
The American people are sorry -- for the
loss, for the years of hurt. You did nothing
wrong, but you were grievously wronged. I
apologize and I am sorry that this apology
has been so long in coming. (Applause.)
To Macon County, to Tuskegee, to the
doctors who have been wrongly associated
with the events there, you have our apology,
as well. To our African American citizens, I
am sorry that your federal government
orchestrated a study so clearly racist. That
can never be allowed to happen again. It is
against everything our country stands for
and what we must stand against is what it
was.
So let us resolve to hold forever in our
hearts and minds the memory of a time not
long ago in Macon County, Alabama, so that
we can always see how adrift we can become
when the rights of any citizens are
neglected, ignored and betrayed. And let us
resolve here and now to move forward
together.
The legacy of the study at Tuskegee has
reached far and deep, in ways that hurt our
progress and divide our nation. We cannot be
one America when a whole segment of our
nation has no trust in America. An apology
is the first step, and we take it with a
commitment to rebuild that broken trust. We
can begin by making sure there is never
again another episode like this one. We need
to do more to ensure that medical research
practices are sound and ethical, and that
researchers work more closely with
communities.
Today I would like to announce several
steps to help us achieve these goals. First,
we will help to build that lasting memorial
at Tuskegee. (Applause.) The school founded
by Booker T. Washington, distinguished by
the renowned scientist George Washington
Carver and so many others who advanced the
health and well-being of African Americans
and all Americans, is a fitting site. The
Department of Health and Human Services will
award a planning grant so the school can
pursue establishing a center for bioethics
in research and health care. The center will
serve as a museum of the study and support
efforts to address its legacy and strengthen
bioethics training.
Second, we commit to increase our
community involvement so that we may begin
restoring lost trust. The study at Tuskegee
served to sow distrust of our medical
institutions, especially where research is
involved. Since the study was halted, abuses
have been checked by making informed consent
and local review mandatory in
federally-funded and mandated research.
Still, 25 years later, many medical
studies have little African American
participation and African American organ
donors are few. This impedes efforts to
conduct promising research and to provide
the best health care to all our people,
including African Americans. So today, I'm
directing the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Donna Shalala, to issue a report
in 180 days about how we can best involve communities, especially
minority communities, in research and health
care. You must -- every American group must
be involved in medical research in ways that
are positive. We have put the curse behind
us; now we must bring the benefits to all
Americans. (Applause.)
Third, we commit to strengthen
researchers' training in bioethics. We are
constantly working on making breakthroughs
in protecting the health of our people and
in vanquishing diseases. But all our people
must be assured that their rights and
dignity will be respected as new drugs,
treatments and therapies are tested and
used. So I am directing Secretary Shalala to
work in partnership with higher education to
prepare training materials for medical
researchers. They will be available in a
year. They will help researchers build on
core ethical principles of respect for
individuals, justice and informed consent,
and advise them on how to use these
principles effectively in diverse
populations.
Fourth, to increase and broaden our
understanding of ethical issues and clinical
research, we commit to providing
postgraduate fellowships to train
bioethicists especially among African
Americans and other minority groups. HHS
will offer these fellowships beginning in
September of 1998 to promising students
enrolled in bioethics graduate programs.
And, finally, by executive order I am
also today extending the charter of the
National Bioethics Advisory Commission to
October of 1999. The need for this
commission is clear. We must be able to call
on the thoughtful, collective wisdom of
experts and community representatives to
find ways to further strengthen our
protections for subjects in human research.
We face a challenge in our time. Science
and technology are rapidly changing our
lives with the promise of making us much
healthier, much more productive and more
prosperous. But with these changes we must
work harder to see that as we advance we
don't leave behind our conscience. No ground
is gained and, indeed, much is lost if we
lose our moral bearings in the name of
progress.
The people who ran the study at Tuskegee
diminished the stature of man by abandoning
the most basic ethical precepts. They forgot
their pledge to heal and repair. They had
the power to heal the survivors and all the
others and they did not. Today, all we can
do is apologize. But you have the power, for
only you -- Mr. Shaw, the others who are
here, the family members who are with us in
Tuskegee -- only you have the power to
forgive. Your presence here shows us that
you have chosen a better path than your
government did so long ago. You have not
withheld the power to forgive. I hope today
and tomorrow every American will remember
your lesson and live by it.
Thank you, and God bless you. (Applause.) |