P R O C E E D I N G S 
     DR. MURRAY:  If the commission would all be seated, we would
like to convene this meeting.  Welcome to the meeting of the
Genetics Subcommittee of the National Bioethics Advisory
Commission.
     Today's meeting will be devoted principally to a discussion
of the Report on Tissue Samples.  
     Tomorrow there will be a meeting of the full commission, and
the day after, the morning after that will be a meeting of the
Human Subjects Subcommittee.
     I have been asked to remind all the members of the
commission to please, please pull your microphones forward when
you have something to say.  You can leave them there.  That is
fine.  
     I wonder if Dr. Harold Shapiro would have anything he would
like to say in welcome?
     DR. SHAPIRO:  I simply would like to welcome all members of
the commission and once again, for those of you I may not have
said so directly, happy New Year to everyone.  I look forward to
working with you during this year.
     I will make a somewhat more formal announcement tomorrow
morning, but I do want to indicate that Dr. Eric Meslin has been
appointed executive director of the commission and so we are all
very pleased.  Eric, why don't you stand?
     (Applause.)
     DR. SHAPIRO:  I know Bill Raub will be only too happy to go
back to his regular full-time job.  I will take this moment also
to thank him, although he is not here, for his work on our behalf
during a good part of last year.
     So I will ask the staff to make sure that we all have coffee
prepared by tomorrow morning.  And I will have more to say at
that time. 
     But, Eric, welcome.  It is great to have you with us.  I
look forward to our discussions.
     DR. MURRAY:  Good.  Let me join you in welcoming Eric
aboard.  It is good to have you here, Eric.  My regrets to the
ELSI Program, but tough.
     DR. SHAPIRO:  That is the spirit.
     (Laughter.)
     DR. MURRAY:  Well, they would have done it to us if they
could have.
     DR. SHAPIRO:  Right.
     DR. MURRAY:  No question.  Let us get to--
     DR. SHAPIRO:  They did do it.
     (Laughter.)
     DR. MURRAY:  That is true.  That is right.  They have been
recruiting in our midst, haven't they, so it is only fair.