| Issue Statements - Priorities |
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Encouraging Stem Cell Research
There is probably no field of medicine more exciting, more challenging or more promising than stem cell research. It offers great hope for millions of people – for children afflicted with juvenile diabetes, for our grandfathers and grandmothers who suffer from Alzheimer’s, and for people who grapple daily with the challenges of living with Parkinson’s, cancer and spinal cord injuries.
There is no question that we need a national stem cell policy that encourages research. A policy that offers hope – and that will help find cures. Sensible stem cell research legislation must contain provisions to expand the number of lines eligible for federal funding.
We must unleash our scientists and allow them to undertake all forms of promising research: adult stem cells, cord blood stem cells, amniotic stem cells, and embryonic stem cells.
For almost a decade now, this debate has been about hope. Hope of a scientific breakthrough for millions of patients and their families. Yet, the President dashed those hopes in July 2006 when he issued his first veto to block bipartisan legislation I sponsored with Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate, that would have vastly enhanced the ability of scientists to discover potentially life-saving cures offered by embryonic stem cell research, all within the parameters of strict ethical guidelines.
This year, once again, we will send a stem cell bill to the President. It is our fervent hope that this time, he will put aside partisan politics and sign this bill. Millions of Americans and their families are waiting.
Legislative Priorities:
- Lifting restrictions to expand the number of stem cell lines available for federal funding.
- Passing a federal ban on human reproductive cloning while protecting important medical research.
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