[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             STEM CELL THERAPEUTIC AND RESEARCH ACT OF 2005

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                               speech of

                           HON. W. TODD AKIN

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 24, 2005

  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2520, the Stem 
Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005. This bill is significant 
because it would encourage one of the most promising, and ethically 
sound, avenues of medical research in our time: The stem cells within 
umbilical cord blood.
  This is a matter of great interest to me, both because of the 
importance of the research itself and also because I represent the 
greater St. Louis area, which is home to the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank 
at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.
  Cord blood has proven successful in treating 67 diseases including 
sickle cell disease, leukemia, osteopetrosis and Diamond Blackfan 
Anemia. Just last year, a North Korean woman who had been paralyzed for 
19 years was seen walking with the assistance of a walker for the 
media. Only a month prior she had received a cord blood treatment.
  This type of extraordinary result demonstrates why we should invest 
in cord blood stem cells research and treatment.
  An early pioneer in cord blood collection and storage, the St. Louis 
Cord Blood Bank has amassed the second largest inventory of cord blood 
in the world and has provided the second largest number of cord blood 
units for transplant. I commend the work of centers like the one at 
Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and am pleased to support his 
important legislation.
  The men and women at the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank deserve our thanks 
for their integrity, dedication and commitment to bettering human life 
through ethical research. The promise of adult stem cell research is 
both substantial and uncontroversial, which is why I urge my colleagues 
to support H.R. 2520.

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