[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 116 (Monday, September 10, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S9209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STEM CELL RESEARCH

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, 3 years ago a young man by the name of Steve 
Rigazio, president and chief operating officer for the largest utility 
in Nevada, Nevada Power--a fine, fine young man--was diagnosed with Lou 
Gehrig's disease. It is a devastating illness that affects the nerve 
cells in the spinal cord and causes muscles to wither and die very 
quickly. He has lived longer than people expected. The normal time from 
the time of diagnosis, when you are told you have this disease, until 
the time you die, is 18 months. He has lived 3 years. He no longer 
works. He finally had to give up his job.
  Because Lou Gehrig's disease attacks the body but leaves the mind 
intact, this vibrant man has had to watch his body deteriorate around 
him. He is a man of great courage, and I hope he lives much longer than 
people expect. He deserves it.
  I have had visiting me for a number of years now two beautiful little 
girls from Las Vegas. They are twins. They are now 12 years old. One of 
the twins, Mollie Singer, has struggled with juvenile diabetes since 
she was 4 years old. She has had thousands of pricks of her skin--
thousands. She is a beautiful little girl who believes that we in 
Washington can help her not have to take all these shots. As do the 
million Americans who suffer from this illness, Mollie fears that her 
kidneys will fail, she will get some kind of infection and have one of 
her limbs amputated or even lose her sight as a result of this 
diabetes.
  There is something that gives Mollie and Steve hope, and that is stem 
cell research. It gives hope to tens of millions of Americans and their 
families who, like Steve Rigazio and Mollie Singer, suffer from Lou 
Gehrig's disease, diabetes, or Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, lupus, heart 
disease, spinal cord injuries, and other illnesses. Since stem cells 
can transform into nearly all the different tissues that make up the 
human body, they can replace defective or missing cells. Scientists are 
really very optimistic that one day stem cells will be used to replace 
defective cells in children with juvenile diabetes or even to create 
rejection-free organs.

  Knowing that stem cells may have the power to save and improve lives, 
we cannot deny researchers the tools they need to fully realize the 
potential of stem cells. If we fail to seize promising research 
opportunities, we will fail millions of Americans and their families 
and people all over the world.
  Early last month, President Bush announced he would limit Government 
funding for research to the stem cell lines that already existed at the 
time of his announcement. This was obviously a political compromise. I 
am pleased that the President left the door open for Federal funding of 
stem cell research in some capacity, but I am very concerned that he 
has not opened the door far enough to allow scientists to fully realize 
the life-saving potential of stem cells.
  Last week, Secretary Thompson announced that no more than 25 of the 
64 stem cell lines the National Institutes of Health listed as falling 
under the President's criteria are fully developed. We still do not 
know whether the remaining 40 stem cell lines would be useful to 
science. What we do know about the 25 viable stem cell lines that fall 
under the President's guidelines is very troubling. Why? Most, if not 
all, of the existing stem cell lines have been mixed with mouse cells. 
As a result, these cells could transfer deadly animal viruses to 
people, human beings.
  It is also unclear whether these cells will be suitable for 
transplanting into people. Just last week, Dr. Douglas Melton, a 
professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard, testified that 
cells derived from mice ``have proven unreliable over time for 
research, either dying out or growing into diseased forms.''
  Even though scientists are working on ways to grow human embryonic 
cell lines without using mouse cells, they will not be eligible for 
Federal research money because they will be created after President 
Bush's arbitrary August 12 deadline. Last week the administration 
confirmed it would not reconsider this deadline, even if it were later 
discovered that none of these cell lines was suitable for long-term 
research.
  If we fail to fund research for the new stem lines that are created 
without mouse cells, foreign scientists will still conduct research on 
stem cell lines that fall outside his guidelines. This research is 
going to go forward. Shouldn't it go forward under the greatest 
scientific umbrella in the history of the world, the National 
Institutes of Health? The answer is yes, that is where it should go 
forward, not in the little communities throughout the world that are 
trying to get a step up on the United States. This research is going to 
go forward. Let's do it the right way.
  As a result of the guidelines of the President, we will not have the 
ability to provide any oversight of this research, if it is done 
overseas, to ensure that it is conducted by ethical means. Not only 
will we risk losing our most talented scientists to foreign countries, 
but we also jeopardize our potential as a nation to remain a world 
leader in stem cell research.
  Over the course of the next several months, scientists will continue 
to determine whether President Bush's policy will allow stem cell 
research to advance at a reasonable pace. As we continue to evaluate 
the President's funding guidelines, we need to keep in mind that 
millions of Americans who suffer from devastating illnesses do not have 
the luxury of time--Steve Rigazio as an example. We cannot continue to 
dangle the hope of cure or the promise of scientific breakthrough 
before these patients and their families without adequately supporting 
research to allow scientists to achieve these very important 
discoveries.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Leahy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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