[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H3551-H3552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               STEM CELL RESEARCH: EMBRYONIC VERSUS ADULT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
majority leader.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening because I fear that a 
number of good people will make a bad decision in the coming weeks. 
What is worse is I fear they will be making this decision based on a 
plethora of false information, and that is why I am here this evening.
  There is an abundance of misinformation, exaggeration, and blatant 
lies being spread by interest groups regarding the prospects for 
embryonic stem cell research. The first misconception is that embryonic 
stem cell research is not legal. The fact is, embryonic stem cell 
research is completely legal. Research on embryonic stem cells has 
taken place for years.
  But what has this research produced? Nothing. While adult stem cells 
have treated over 58 diseases in human patients, embryonic stem cells 
have not treated even one patient. Adult stem cells have had success in 
treating debilitating and fatal illnesses without compromising ethical 
standards. Embryonic stem cells have treated nothing while, at the same 
time, destroying human life.
  So why in the world would anyone support the unethical, failed use of 
embryonic stem cells instead of the ethical, successful use of adult 
stem cells? Because they do not know the difference. That is why, Mr. 
Speaker, I want to share some very important information tonight. If 
and when the American public learns the scientific facts, and I want to 
stress ``scientific facts'' regarding stem cell research, the ethical 
questions will not matter as much.
  Now, I had the good fortune today to hear a talk by Dr. Robert P. 
George, who is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence in the 
Department of Politics at Princeton University in Princeton, New 
Jersey. Not all of the information that I am sharing with you tonight 
came from Dr. George, but he gave an outstanding talk sponsored by the 
Wilberforce Forum as a part of the Majority Leader's lecture series, 
2005. The title of his talk was ``Embryonic Stem Cells: Ethical 
Boundaries, and Possible Ways Forward.''
  I want to use some material that I have also received related to the 
definition of stem cells, and some of the research that has been 
produced in this area by Dr. Tadeusz Pachotczyk who has done post 
doctoral work at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical 
School after he earned his PhD in neuroscience from Yale University. 
What is a stem cell? I used to teach, and I always believed that you 
start with the basics when you are teaching. So let us start with the 
definition. What is a stem cell?
  A stem cell is essentially a blank cell capable of becoming another, 
more differentiated cell-type in the body, such as a skin cell, a 
muscle cell or a nerve cell. Why are stem cells important? Stem cells 
can be used to replace or heal damaged tissues in cells in the body. 
There are two broad classes of stem cells. The two basic types of stem 
cells are embryonic type and adult type. Embryonic stem cells and 
embryonic germ cells make up the embryonic type. Umbilical cord stem 
cells, placental stem cells, and adult stem cells make up the adult 
type.
  Now, where do embryonic-type stem cells come from? They come from 
embryos. Embryonic stem cells are obtained by harvesting living embryos 
which are generally five to seven days old. The removal of embryonic 
stem cells invariably results in the destruction of the embryo. Another 
type of stem cell called an embryonic germ cell can be obtained from 
either miscarriages or aborted fetuses.
  Now, where do adult type stem cells come from? They come from 
umbilical chords, placentas, and amniotic fluid. Adult-type stem cells 
can be derived from various pregnancy-related tissues, or they come 
from adult tissues. In adults, stem cells are present within various 
tissues and organ systems. These include the bone marrow, liver, 
epidermis, retina, skeletal muscle, intestine, brain, dental pulp, and 
elsewhere. Even fat obtained from liposuction has been shown to contain 
significant numbers of adult-type stem cells, and I am going to refrain 
from making any jokes about that tonight. Cadavers. Neural stem cells 
have been removed from specific areas in post-mortem, human brains as 
late as 20 hours following death.
  Now, there are people who believe that embryonic stem cells have a 
great deal more to offer than adult stem cells. Let me say a little bit 
about what embryonic stem cells bring that adult stem cells do not. 
They do seem to be very flexible and to have the potential to make any 
cell. And, there is a lot of availability, so we are told, with 
embryonic stem cells from in vitro fertilization clinics, although 
there is some debate about exactly how many there are.
  What are some of the disadvantages of embryonic stem cells? They are 
very difficult to differentiate uniformly and homogeneously into a 
target tissue. It is extremely difficult to get them to do exactly what 
we want them to do. Immunogenic. Embryonic stem cells from a random 
embryo donor are likely to be rejected after transplantation. They just 
do not work as well. They are capable of forming tumors or promoting 
tumor formation. This is one of the major drawbacks of embryonic stem 
cells.

                              {time}  2030

  And, of course, the most important disadvantage of embryonic stem 
cells is that they result in the destruction of human life.
  Now, let us talk a little bit about the advantages of adult stem 
cells. Special adult-type stem cells from bone marrow and from 
umbilical cords have been isolated recently which appear to be as 
flexible as the embryonic type. They are already somewhat specialized, 
so inducing them to go into a certain area may be much simpler.
  They are not immunogenic; recipients who receive the products of 
their own stem cells will not experience immune reaction. This is 
extremely important. Relative ease of procurement. Some adult stem 
cells are easy to harvest: the skin, muscle, marrow, fat, while others 
may be more difficult to obtain, brain stem cells.
  Umbilical and placental stem cells are likely to be readily 
available. More and more people are being encouraged now, when they 
have babies, to save the umbilical and placental cells and store them 
for possible later use.

[[Page H3552]]

  Adult stem cells tend not to form tumors. And there is absolutely no 
harm done to the donor when we harvest adult stem cells. Now, what are 
the disadvantages? Let us be fair. There are some. There is a limited 
quantity of them. They can sometimes be difficult to obtain in large 
numbers.
  They may not live as long as embryonic stem cells in a culture. And 
they may be a little bit less flexible, with the exception again of 
bone marrow and umbilical cord ones.
  Now, why are adult stem cells preferable to embryonic stem cells? 
Adult stem cells are a natural solution. They naturally exist in our 
bodies, and they provide a natural repair mechanism for many tissues of 
our bodies. They belong in a microenvironment of an adult body, while 
embryonic stem cells belong in the microenvironment of the early 
embryo, not in an adult body where they tend to cause tumors and immune 
system reactions.
  Most importantly, adult stem cells have already been successfully 
used in human therapies for many years. And let me just say, some of 
the therapies that adult stem cells have been used for, they have 
treated brain cancer. Embryonic stem cells have not.
  Adult stem cells have treated breast cancer, they have treated 
ovarian cancer, adult stem cells have treated testicular cancer. 
Embryonic stem cells have not.
  Adult stem cells have treated leukemia, Crone's disease, anemia, 
stroke, Parkinson's disease. Embryonic stem cells have not been able to 
treat any of these diseases, not any of them.
  It is really important that people understand the difference in the 
two types of cells. I support the President's position on what to do 
with embryonic stem cells. I think the President has come up with a 
very carefully thought-out position on this issue. And this is where we 
need to stay.
  The people who are pushing the use of embryonic stem cells say they 
want something to salvage from the cryo stage because they will be 
destroyed or kept in limbo. That does not have to happen. Once we begin 
to use embryonic stem cells for treatment, we are crossing the Rubicon 
in terms of ethical issues. We cross an ethical barrier when we do that 
because we are destroying one life for another.
  Those embryos are human beings and should not be treated as research 
subjects. We would never kill to harvest body parts because of the 
principle of human dignity.
  We do not even do this with our most heinous criminals. We do not 
treat them as things. We treat them with dignity until the time that 
they die.
  We have a terrible situation with people promoting the destruction of 
embryos for stem cell research. And I thought it would be interesting 
tonight to remind us of what the Declaration of Independence says. This 
is the Declaration of Independence that unfortunately too few young 
people read or understand in our society anymore.
  And I will just read the beginning of it: ``When in the course of 
human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the 
political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume 
among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes 
which impel them to the separation.''
  And this is the part of the Declaration that if anybody knows the 
Declaration of Independence at all, this is the part that they know: 
``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable 
rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness.''
  That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the government.
  It is extremely important that we not lose sight of what founded this 
country, and the basic principle of life which is enunciated in the 
Declaration of Independence. We have to come down to understanding what 
is a human being. Scientists will say that an embryo is a human being. 
It is internally self-directed. And I want to say some more about that.
  Because what happens with an embryo is nobody has to do anything to 
it from the outside. It is a human being at the embryonic stage. And it 
internally self-directs itself to grow and to develop into a person 
that then is born after the cells divide and divide and divide.
  We are not talking about a religious issue only. For some people this 
is a fundamental religious issue, and it should be. But it is also a 
scientific issue. All human beings have profound human dignity. And, 
again, never, never in our society have we stooped so low as to 
sacrifice some human beings for others.
  There is not a single therapeutic trial going on in the United States 
right now using embryonic cells, no clinical trial. There are lots and 
lots and lots of trials going on using adult cells.
  There is private money going into this research, but the President 
has said we will not use government money; we will not tax the people 
of this country, many of whom are so opposed to this issue to do 
something which they find so abhorrent. Now, there is money going into 
research. Private money. Where is that money going?
  It is going into the research for adult cells. That should tell us a 
lot. People think that that is where the payoff is going to be. People 
do not invest their money in things that they do not think is going to 
pay off.
  And it is very, very important that we not be persuaded to use 
government money, our money, taxpayers' money to go into something that 
not only holds very, very little promise for any kind of results, but 
is so abhorrent again to so many of our people.
  Now, I want to share with you some success stories about adult stem 
cell research. Laura Dominguez had a spinal cord injury. As a result of 
a car accident in 2001, she broke her neck and was paralyzed from the 
chest down. She was treated with a mix of adult stem cells and other 
cells obtained from olfactory tissues inside her own nose.
  The cells were transplanted across the injury site and her damaged 
spinal cord; and several months after the surgery, she was able to move 
her foot. She now walks with braces. Her remarkable progress is 
continuing, and several other spinal cord injury patients like her are 
also showing benefits from the transplant surgery.
  Patrizia Durante was diagnosed with acute leukemia 6 months into her 
pregnancy. Her daughter, Victoria Angel, was born healthy; but Durante 
was given only 6 months to live. The stem cells from the blood of her 
daughter's umbilical cord were used for a transplant. Several years 
later, Durante is in full remission.
  Durante told reporters she saved her mommy. She is a little miracle. 
That is why we named her Victoria Angel. She is my little angel.
  There are many, many examples of people who have been treated and 
treated extremely well with adult stem cells. Again, I want to say that 
we are stepping into dangerously uncharted territory when we begin the 
practice, or if we begin the practice of destroying one life to try to 
help another life.
  It is an ethical Rubicon that we should not be crossing. And, again, 
I know that many people are doing this because they are concerned. They 
have members of their family who are diabetic, they have members of 
their family who have Parkinson's disease, or they know people who have 
diseases and they want to do something to help them.
  I urge them to study this issue very, very carefully and make sure 
that they understand the differences between what is happening with 
adult stem cell research and embryonic stem cell research. And I feel 
certain that those people will make the right decision, and they will 
not vote to use money to destroy human embryos and go in that direction 
when we do not have to, because we have the means to save lives and 
improve the quality of life with adult stem cells.

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