[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16368-16369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           STEM CELL RESEARCH

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss embryonic stem 
cell research, having just participated in a hearing on stem cell 
research before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
Committee.
  The future of stem cells in the United States, indeed the world, 
poses one of the greatest challenges to our Government since the 
foundation of our Republic over 200 years ago.
  Enormous pressures will be placed upon our Presidents. President 
Bush, at the threshold of this debate on new developments in medical 
research, has taken an important step forward. I commend the President 
for supporting some degree of Federal funding for embryonic stem cell 
research. I also particularly commend the President for his efforts to 
ban human cloning.
  Likewise, Congress must write laws striking a balance. On the one 
hand, ethical, moral, and religious standards give our Nation its 
strong foundation and must be considered.
  On the other hand, we must allow science to go forward, within 
reasonable bounds, to assess the ability of the new frontier of 
embryonic stem cell research to alleviate the human suffering being 
experienced by millions.
  Like our executive and legislative branches of Government, our 
judiciary will also be faced with challenges. The judiciary must 
interpret, not re-write, the law of the land, as a flood of cases will 
come before the courts.
  If the three branches of our Government fail, in the judgment of 
Americans, to discharge their respective responsibilities in a fair, 
objective way, there will be many adverse impacts upon the American 
people.
  For example, this science will simply leave the U.S. laboratories and 
move off shore. The United States will no longer be a Nation that 
imports and keeps our best researchers; rather, we will become a Nation 
that exports our brain power in crucial fields. Americans seeking 
medical treatment will likewise go abroad.
  Consequently, our Government is faced with challenges. But, to the 
extent we allow embryonic stem cell research at home, within a fair and 
balanced framework of regulations, we can better control the important 
ethical, moral and religious standards vital to our culture here in the 
United States.
  America has accepted the awesome responsibility of being the only 
world superpower in areas of security, the preservation of freedom, and 
the fostering of the principles of democracy and human rights 
throughout the world. Are we as a Nation going to be a superpower in 
medical science, advocating ethical standards for others beyond our 
shores; or are we, as a Nation, going to retreat behind unrealistic, 
unenforceable barricades, and leave advancement in the science of this 
emerging field to the rest of the world?
  The facts are that an overwhelming amount of evidence exists that 
indicates that stem cell research holds enormous potential for 
treatment, and ultimately cures, for many diseases such as Parkinson's 
disease, cancer, ALS, Alzheimer's, heart disease, spinal chord 
injuries, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and 
diabetes.
  Constantly, my Senate staff and I meet and hear from many Virginians 
who suffer from these and other diseases. And, many of these same 
individuals succumb to their disease, as no cure has yet been found for 
their illness. Embryonic stem cell research offers a real opportunity 
to help save lives in the future.
  After thoughtful consideration, I came to the conclusion that the 
Federal Government, subject to restrictions, should fund embryonic stem 
cell research so that we remain a superpower in medical science. I 
joined with several of my colleagues in the Senate in writing to 
President Bush expressing

[[Page 16369]]

my support for Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research prior to 
the President's August 9th announcement. I ask unanimous consent that 
the letter to President Bush be printed in Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                                   Washington, DC.
     The President,
     The White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We strongly urge you to continue the 
     last Administration's policy of using Federal funds for 
     research on human stem cells after these cells have been 
     derived from embryos. In addition, we strongly urge you to 
     support legislation which would remove the existing ban on 
     the use of Federal funds to derive stem cells from embryos.
       On the issue of stem cell research, we think our colleague, 
     Senator Gordon Smith, went to the heart of the matter when he 
     pointed out the difference between an embryo in a petri dish, 
     which would not produce human life, as opposed to an embryo 
     in the womb of a woman where further development would 
     produce life.
       The essential consideration is that there are many excess 
     embryos created for the purpose of in vitro fertilization. 
     The only issue is whether these embryo will be discarded or 
     used for stem cell research to save lives. Stem cell research 
     has demonstrated a remarkable capacity of these cells to 
     transform into any type of cell in the human body. Stem cells 
     could be transplanted to any part of the body to replace 
     tissue that has been damaged by disease, injury or aging. If 
     scientists are correct, stem cells could be used to treat and 
     cure a multitude of maladies such as Parkinson's, 
     Alzhemier's, diabetes, ALS, heart disease, spinal cord 
     injury, all types of cancers, burns, stroke, macular 
     degeneration, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, 
     autoimmune diseases, hepatitis and arthritis.
       Current law prohibits Federal funding to create human 
     embryos for research purposes through cloning, or through any 
     other means. We do not object to these important 
     prohibitions. However, creating embryos for research purposes 
     is entirely different from using spare embryos left-over from 
     infertility treatments. These spare embryos are now destined 
     to be thrown away. Rather than discarding them, we support 
     using these embryos in medical research to treat and cure 
     disease.
           Sincerely,
         Arleen Specter, Strom Thurmond, Lincoln D. Chafee, 
           Olympia J. Snowe, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Gordon 
           Smith, Susan Collins, Ted Stevens, Kay Bailey 
           Hutchison, Orrin Hatch, and Dick Lugar.

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