[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2838 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2838

To require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to conduct 
or support research using certain human pluripotent stem cells, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 5, 2001

    Ms. Millender-McDonald introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to conduct 
or support research using certain human pluripotent stem cells, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``New Century Health Advantage Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, anemia, arthritis, birth 
        defects, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, 
        muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia, 
        stroke, and other debilitating conditions and diseases affect 
        millions of people in the United States and disproportionately 
        affect African American and other minority communities.
            (2) Because of the tremendous lifesaving potential of human 
        embryonic stem cell research, there is a need to eliminate 
        barriers to such research created by appropriations law, 
        including section 510 of the Departments of Labor, Health and 
        Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 
        Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted by section 1(a) of Public 
        Law 106-554). That section prohibits the use of funds made 
        available in that Act for ``the creation of a human embryo or 
        embryos for research purposes'' or ``research in which a human 
        embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly 
        subjected to risk of injury or death''.
            (3) Past investments in biomedical research have resulted 
        in better health, an improved quality of life for all people in 
        the United States, and a reduction in national health care 
        expenditures.
            (4) The Nation's commitment to biomedical research has 
        expanded the base of scientific knowledge about health and 
        disease and revolutionized the practice of medicine.
            (5) Many people in the United States face serious and life-
        threatening health problems, both acute and chronic.
            (6) Neurodegenerative diseases of the elderly, such as 
        Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, threaten to destroy the 
        lives of millions of people in the United States.
            (7) Cancer remains a comprehensive threat to any tissue or 
        organ of the body at any age and remains a leading cause of 
        morbidity and mortality.
            (8) The extent of psychiatric and neurological diseases 
        poses considerable challenges in understanding the workings of 
        the brain and nervous system.
            (9) Diabetes, including insulin dependent and non-insulin 
        dependent diabetes, afflicts 16,000,000 people in the United 
        States and places them at risk for acute and chronic 
        complications, including blindness, kidney failure, 
        atherosclerosis, and nerve degeneration.
            (10) Recent scientific developments show that human stem 
        cell research based on ethically responsible stem cell sources 
        may lead to exponential improvements in the treatment of many 
        terminal and debilitating conditions, from cancer to 
        Parkinson's disease to Alzheimer's disease to diabetes to heart 
        disease.
            (11) World renowned scientists are leaving the United 
        States to conduct research in nations that support and fund 
        human embryonic stem cell research.

SEC. 3. STUDIES USING HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS.

    The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall conduct or 
support research using pluripotent stem cells derived from human 
embryos that were created for the purposes of fertility treatment and 
were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such 
treatment.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION OF FUNDING FOR CERTAIN RESEARCH INVOLVING 
              HUMAN EMBRYOS.

    Section 510 of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, 
and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (as 
enacted by section 1(a) of Public Law 106-554) (prohibiting the use of 
funds for certain research involving human embryos), is hereby 
repealed.
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