[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 96 (Wednesday, July 11, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H3871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H3871]]
            EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH IS A MEDICAL ISSUE

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, the issue of embryonic stem cell 
research has been misrepresented as one of abortion. It is not an 
abortion issue. Stem cell research is a medical issue, one that should 
transcend political lines and instead focus on human lives.
  One such life is that of Carolyn Laughlin, a mother of two diabetic 
sons in my hometown of Evanston, Illinois, who wrote me this past April 
to share her family's struggle and urge my support for federally-funded 
stem cell research.
  She said, ``Diabetes haunts my family every waking hour. Injections, 
blood testing, calculating food portions are constant companions of my 
sons. Overnight, I fear insulin reactions that will leave them 
unconscious. Long-term we face the concerns of kidney failure, 
blindness, and amputations.''
  Most scientists are in agreement that embryonic cell research offers 
the greatest hope for families like the Laughlins. Federal funding 
guidelines assure that research will meet ethical standards and allow 
advancements to be made as quickly as possible in diseases like 
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, spinal cord injury.
  The Laughlins and millions of other families are counting on us.

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