Washington, D.C. – Following are remarks made today by Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) during a Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on stem cell research:

"Mr. Chairman. This is a defining moment for the Senate. We are blessed to have these four Senators available to us for counsel, advice and information, and I am pleased we will also have technical and scientific guidance from others in this process. It is truly a matter of life or death. This issue deserves our best efforts to learn the facts and act on them to serve the public interest. This is not an issue where we try to be just politically correct. Our obligation is more than that. We must use our best judgement, enlightened by the best evidence."