In 1995, the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, named after Representative Jay Dickey (R) from Arkansas, was passed by the U.S. Congress, and signed by President Bill Clinton which prohibited the Department of Health and Human Services from using appropriated funds for the creation of human embryos for research purposes or for research in which human embryos are destroyed.

Rep Dickey assured the prohibition of public funding of human embryo research and gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), respectively.