[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     BAIT AND SWITCH ON STEM CELLS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in the coming weeks, some will say that they 
only want to use Federal funds to destroy human embryos stored in IVF 
clinics for stem cell research. This is a skilled use of the bait-and-
switch tactic.
  First, these embryos are not primed for research; they are primed for 
adoption. Eighty-one embryos have been adopted today with dozens more 
on the way, called ``snowflake adoptions.'' Researchers who support 
embryonic stem cell research acknowledge that these IVF embryos will 
not provide near the desired type or number of stem cell lines demanded 
by the biotech industry and admit that they will not be genetically 
diverse. In order to get that sample and overcome that rejection, they 
will need to clone human embryos. Advocates have admitted as much on 
this floor in the Chamber.
  The ultimate goal of researchers is free and unfettered access to 
Federal dollars to create, clone and destroy human embryos for lab 
experiments. Congress should instead focus on supporting adult stem 
cell research, which has been proven to work successfully, is not 
morally controversial, and holds true promise for disease victims. We 
should not kill to harvest an experiment.

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