[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     URGING SUPPORT FOR H.R. 2520 AND H.R. 810, STEM CELL RESEARCH

  (Mr. CASTLE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I just left a press conference; and four of 
the speakers there spoke about their diseases, none of which could be 
cured by adult stem cell research: a form of cancer, Parkinson's, 
juvenile diabetes, and a person who is a paraplegic.
  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that every single one of us 
has many constituents who have been to our offices over the years who 
have had these problems and have come to our offices for help. This is 
not the time to allow bad science or ideology to get in the way of 
doing what is right for the people of this country and of the world. 
There are 110 million people in the United States of America who 
potentially could be helped by embryonic stem cell research.
  I have just been going through what some of the experts have said. 
One said: ``Umbilical cord and embryonic stem cells are not in any way 
interchangeable,'' David Scadden, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell 
Institute.
  The National Institutes of Health said: ``Human embryonic stem cells 
are thought to have much greater developmental potential than adult 
stem cells. This means that embryonic stem cells may be pluripotent, 
that is, able to give rise to cells found in all tissues of the embryo 
except for germ cells rather than being merely multipotent.''
  ``The bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, is we just don't know at 
this point what each can do, and we ought to be investigating both,'' 
Dr. Joanne Kutzberg at Duke University.
  One expert after another has said that there is tremendous potential 
there. Let us not let it go to waste. Vote ``yes'' on both of these 
bills.

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