[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18896-18897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 810 AND S. 1317

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, prior to the distinguished majority leader 
leaving the floor, I have a short statement I would like him to listen 
to. Then I will propound a unanimous-consent request.
  Two months ago, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 810, the 
Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. Two months in legislative time may 
not seem like a lot of time. But in the lives of people who are sick or 
who have loved ones who are sick, it can be an eternity. The bill that 
passed the House was a rare victory of bipartisanship. I sincerely 
hoped, after having read that it had passed, that we would embrace the 
same spirit of bipartisanship in the Senate and pass this legislation 
that offers hope to millions of

[[Page 18897]]

Americans who suffer from deadly disease, and their families.
  In May, I spoke with my friend, the distinguished majority leader, 
about the need to take up this crucial legislation as soon as possible. 
I was assured that Senator Frist would work with Members of both sides 
of the aisle so that we could consider the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act before we broke for our August recess.
  The month of July, of course, is almost over. We hope to be able to 
complete things in the next day or two or three. But this legislation, 
in the lives of the people I mentioned, can't go on forever. We believe 
this legislation could produce and will produce stunning medical 
breakthroughs to some of the dread diseases that affect mankind.
  What we have been asking is simple. We propose that the Senate take 
up two bills: the stem cell bill, which is H.R. 810, and a blood cord 
bill, which is S. 1317, just like the House bill. Instead, we have 
heard that we are going to consider six bills, and now we read seven 
bills. We haven't seen the language of all seven.
  It doesn't have to be that complicated, I don't think. The House 
dealt with the issue very simply, and we should do the same.
  A bipartisan majority supported the stem cell bill in the House. I 
believe there is a tremendous body of Senators who will also support 
this legislation. Every day we delay consideration of this bill is 
another day we deny hope to millions of Americans and people throughout 
the world with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, 
heart disease, and diabetes, to name only a few.
  These patients, as I have said, don't have the luxury of time like 
some of us do. Let's have an up-or-down vote on these bills and send 
them to the President as quickly as possible--like today.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of Calendar No. 119, H.R. 810, the stem cell research 
bill, that the bill be read the third time and passed, and the motion 
to reconsider be laid upon the table.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate then proceed to the 
consideration of Calendar No. 156, S. 1317, the cord blood and bone 
marrow transplant bill; that the committee substitute be agreed to; the 
bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. The issue of 
support for stem cell research is one that I believe deserves 
examination by this body. Stem cell research itself is very promising. 
I ran a very large multidisciplinary transplant center, and part of 
that was a transplant arm that transplanted literally hundreds of 
people with cord blood--or with bone marrow transplants, which is very 
similar to using cord blood, which one of the bills addresses. Passage 
of that bill would extend that therapy--which is with adult stem 
cells--with the variance of cord blood. I agree that passage of that 
bill would help hundreds of people by establishing registries that 
could be easily accessed.
  H.R. 810, Calendar No. 119, the stem cell research bill--the bill the 
Democratic leader mentioned--is also a bill that I believe should be 
addressed in this body. It is a bill that has passed the House of 
Representatives in a bipartisan way.
  In trying to address those two bills, I have extended to both sides 
of the aisle the opportunity to have clean up-or-down votes on those 
bills, as well as a fascinating new arena of research--very promising--
that gives an alternative not to the Castle bill or the H.R. 810 bill, 
but an alternative where you don't have to destroy embryos at all, with 
the opportunity to develop what are called pluripotential stem cells, 
or embryonic-like stem cells, which also should be addressed.
  Thus, my proposal has been to address the cord blood bill, H.R. 810, 
the alternative new research, where embryos do not have to be 
destroyed; a cloning bill, Senator Brownback's bill; and a bone marrow 
bill. I have been unsuccessful in trying to bring that to the Senate 
floor. There are concerns on our side of the aisle about that 
approach--having clean votes on these bills.
  I am not going to give up on the stem cell issue because the research 
is hugely promising. I think, although each of us has individual 
thoughts about the potential of stem cells and the moral and ethical 
issues around stem cells, it deserves our body politic addressing the 
issue. So with that, I will continue to address the issue. I hope that 
after we come back over the recess, we will be able to address the 
issue.
  I do object to the unanimous-consent request, as we finish over the 
last 48 hours with our business on the floor of the Senate.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.

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