[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10985-11000]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             STEM CELL THERAPEUTIC AND RESEARCH ACT OF 2005

  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2520) to provide for the collection and maintenance 
of human cord blood stem cells for the treatment of patients and 
research, and to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 
C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2520

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Stem Cell Therapeutic and 
     Research Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. CORD BLOOD INVENTORY.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     shall enter into one-time contracts with qualified cord blood 
     stem cell banks to assist in the collection and maintenance 
     of 150,000 units of high-quality human cord blood to be made 
     available for transplantation through the C.W. Bill Young 
     Cell Transplantation Program and to carry out the 
     requirements of subsection (b).
       (b) Requirements.--The Secretary shall require each 
     recipient of a contract under this section--
       (1) to acquire, tissue-type, test, cryopreserve, and store 
     donated units of human cord blood acquired with the informed 
     consent of the donor in a manner that complies with 
     applicable Federal and State regulations;
       (2) to make cord blood units that are collected pursuant to 
     this section or otherwise and meet all applicable Federal 
     standards available to transplant centers for stem cell 
     transplantation;
       (3) to make cord blood units that are collected, but not 
     appropriate for clinical use, available for peer-reviewed 
     research;
       (4) to submit data in a standardized format, as required by 
     the Secretary, for the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation 
     Program; and

[[Page 10986]]

       (5) to submit data for inclusion in the stem cell 
     therapeutic outcomes database maintained under section 379A 
     of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by this Act.
       (c) Application.--To seek to enter into a contract under 
     this section, a qualified cord blood stem cell bank shall 
     submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
     manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
     reasonably require. At a minimum, an application for a 
     contract under this section shall include an assurance that 
     the applicant--
       (1) will participate in the C.W. Bill Young Cell 
     Transplantation Program for a period of at least 10 years; 
     and
       (2) in the event of abandonment of this activity prior to 
     the expiration of such period, will transfer the units 
     collected pursuant to this section to another qualified cord 
     blood stem cell bank approved by the Secretary to ensure 
     continued availability of cord blood units.
       (d) Duration of Contracts.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary may not enter into any 
     contract under this section for a period that--
       (A) exceeds 3 years; or
       (B) ends after September 30, 2010.
       (2) Extensions.--Subject to paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary 
     may extend the period of a contract under this section to 
     exceed a period of 3 years if--
       (A) the Secretary finds that 150,000 units of high-quality 
     human cord blood have not yet been collected pursuant to this 
     section; and
       (B) the Secretary does not receive an application for a 
     contract under this section from any qualified cord blood 
     stem cell bank that has not previously entered into a 
     contract under this section or the Secretary determines that 
     the outstanding inventory need cannot be met by the one or 
     more qualified cord blood stem cell banks that have submitted 
     an application for a contract under this section.
       (e) Regulations.--The Secretary may promulgate regulations 
     to carry out this section.
       (f) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation 
     Program'' means the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation 
     Program under section 379 of the Public Health Service Act, 
     as amended by this Act.
       (2) The term ``cord blood donor'' means a mother who has 
     delivered a baby and consents to donate the neonatal blood 
     remaining in the placenta and umbilical cord after separation 
     from the newborn baby.
       (3) The term ``human cord blood unit'' means the neonatal 
     blood collected from the placenta and umbilical cord.
       (4) The term ``qualified cord blood stem cell bank'' has 
     the meaning given to that term in section 379(b) of the 
     Public Health Service Act, as amended by this Act.
       (5) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
     and Human Services.
       (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) Fiscal year 2006.--Any amounts appropriated to the 
     Secretary for fiscal year 2004 or 2005 for the purpose of 
     assisting in the collection or maintenance of human cord 
     blood shall remain available to the Secretary until the end 
     of fiscal year 2006 for the purpose of carrying out this 
     section.
       (2) Subsequent fiscal years.--There are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Secretary $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 
     years 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 to carry out this section. 
     Amounts appropriated pursuant to this paragraph shall remain 
     available for obligation through the end of fiscal year 2010.

     SEC. 3. C.W. BILL YOUNG CELL TRANSPLANTATION PROGRAM.

       (a) National Program.--Section 379 of the Public Health 
     Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274k) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``NATIONAL 
     REGISTRY'' and inserting ``NATIONAL PROGRAM'';
       (2) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``The Secretary shall by contract'' and all that follows 
     through the end of such matter and inserting ``The Secretary, 
     acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 
     Services Administration, shall by one or more contracts 
     establish and maintain a C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation 
     Program that has the purpose of increasing the number of 
     transplants for recipients suitably matched to biologically 
     unrelated donors of bone marrow and cord blood, and that 
     meets the requirements of this section. The Secretary may 
     award a separate contract to perform each of the major 
     functions of the Program described in paragraphs (1) and (2) 
     of subsection (b) if deemed necessary by the Secretary to 
     operate an effective and efficient system. The Secretary 
     shall conduct a separate competition for the initial 
     establishment of the cord blood functions of the Program. The 
     Program shall be under the general supervision of the 
     Secretary. The Secretary shall establish an Advisory Council 
     to advise, assist, consult with, and make recommendations to 
     the Secretary on matters related to the activities carried 
     out by the Program. The members of the Advisory Council shall 
     be appointed in accordance with the following:'';
       (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``except that'' and all 
     that follows and inserting ``except that--
       ``(A) such limitations shall not apply to the Chair of the 
     Advisory Council (or the Chair-elect) or to the member of the 
     Advisory Council who most recently served as the Chair; and
       ``(B) 1 additional consecutive 2-year term may be served by 
     any member of the Advisory Council who has no employment, 
     governance, or financial affiliation with any donor center, 
     recruitment group, transplant center, or cord blood stem cell 
     bank.'';
       (C) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:
       ``(4) The membership of the Advisory Council--
       ``(A) shall include as voting members a balanced number of 
     representatives including representatives of marrow donor 
     centers and marrow transplant centers, representatives of 
     cord blood stem cell banks and participating birthing 
     hospitals, recipients of a bone marrow transplant and cord 
     blood transplants, persons who require such transplants, 
     family members of such a recipient or family members of a 
     patient who has requested the assistance of the Program in 
     searching for an unrelated donor of bone marrow or cord 
     blood, persons with expertise in blood stem cell 
     transplantation including cord blood, persons with expertise 
     in typing, matching, and transplant outcome data analysis, 
     persons with expertise in the social sciences, and members of 
     the general public; and
       ``(B) shall include as nonvoting members representatives 
     from the Department of Defense Marrow Donor Recruitment and 
     Research Program operated by the Department of the Navy, the 
     Division of Transplantation of the Health Resources and 
     Services Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, 
     and the National Institutes of Health.''; and
       (D) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(5) Members of the Advisory Council shall be chosen so as 
     to ensure objectivity and balance and reduce the potential 
     for conflicts of interest. The Secretary shall establish 
     bylaws and procedures--
       ``(A) to prohibit any member of the Advisory Council who 
     has an employment, governance, or financial affiliation with 
     a donor center, recruitment group, transplant center, or cord 
     blood stem cell bank from participating in any decision that 
     materially affects the center, recruitment group, transplant 
     center, or cord blood stem cell bank; and
       ``(B) to limit the number of members of the Advisory 
     Council with any such affiliation.
       ``(6) The Secretary, acting through the Advisory Council, 
     shall submit to the Congress--
       ``(A) an annual report on the activities carried out under 
     this section; and
       ``(B) not later than 6 months after the date of the 
     enactment of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 
     2005, a report of recommendations on the scientific factors 
     necessary to define a cord blood unit as a high-quality 
     unit.'';
       (3) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
       ``(b) Functions.--
       ``(1) Bone marrow functions.--With respect to bone marrow, 
     the Program shall--
       ``(A) operate a system for listing, searching, and 
     facilitating the distribution of bone marrow that is suitably 
     matched to candidate patients;
       ``(B) carry out a program for the recruitment of bone 
     marrow donors in accordance with subsection (c), including 
     with respect to increasing the representation of racial and 
     ethnic minority groups (including persons of mixed ancestry) 
     in the enrollment of the Program;
       ``(C) maintain and expand medical emergency contingency 
     response capabilities in concert with Federal programs for 
     response to threats of use of terrorist or military weapons 
     that can damage marrow, such as ionizing radiation or 
     chemical agents containing mustard, so that the capability of 
     supporting patients with marrow damage from disease can be 
     used to support casualties with marrow damage;
       ``(D) carry out informational and educational activities in 
     accordance with subsection (c);
       ``(E) at least annually update information to account for 
     changes in the status of individuals as potential donors of 
     bone marrow;
       ``(F) provide for a system of patient advocacy through the 
     office established under subsection (d);
       ``(G) provide case management services for any potential 
     donor of bone marrow to whom the Program has provided a 
     notice that the potential donor may be suitably matched to a 
     particular patient (which services shall be provided through 
     a mechanism other than the system of patient advocacy under 
     subsection (d)), and conduct surveys of donors and potential 
     donors to determine the extent of satisfaction with such 
     services and to identify ways in which the services can be 
     improved;
       ``(H) with respect to searches for unrelated donors of bone 
     marrow that are conducted through the system under 
     subparagraph (A), collect, analyze, and publish data on the 
     number and percentage of patients at each of the various 
     stages of the search process, including data regarding the 
     furthest stage

[[Page 10987]]

     reached, the number and percentage of patients who are unable 
     to complete the search process, and the reasons underlying 
     such circumstances;
       ``(I) support studies and demonstration and outreach 
     projects for the purpose of increasing the number of 
     individuals who are willing to be marrow donors to ensure a 
     genetically diverse donor pool;
       ``(J) conduct and support research to improve the 
     availability, efficiency, safety, and cost of transplants 
     from unrelated donors and the effectiveness of Program 
     operations; and
       ``(K) assist qualified cord blood stem cell banks in the 
     Program in accordance with paragraph (3).
     Subsections (c) through (e) apply with respect to each entity 
     awarded a contract under this section with respect to bone 
     marrow.
       ``(2) Cord blood functions.--With respect to cord blood, 
     the Program shall--
       ``(A) operate a system for identifying, matching, and 
     facilitating the distribution of donated cord blood units 
     that are suitably matched to candidate patients and meet all 
     applicable Federal and State regulations (including informed 
     consent and Food and Drug Administration regulations) from a 
     qualified cord blood stem cell bank;
       ``(B) allow transplant physicians, other appropriate health 
     care professionals, and patients to search by means of 
     electronic access all available cord blood units listed in 
     the Program;
       ``(C) allow transplant physicians and other appropriate 
     health care professionals to tentatively reserve a cord blood 
     unit for transplantation;
       ``(D) support studies and demonstration and outreach 
     projects for the purpose of increasing cord blood donation to 
     ensure a genetically diverse collection of cord blood units; 
     and
       ``(E) coordinate with the Secretary to carry out 
     information and educational activities for the purpose of 
     increasing cord blood donation and promoting the availability 
     of cord blood units as a transplant option.
       ``(3) Single point of access.--If the Secretary enters into 
     a contract with more than one entity to perform the functions 
     outlined in this subsection, the Secretary shall establish 
     procedures to ensure that health care professionals and 
     patients are able to obtain, consistent with the functions 
     described in paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A), cells from adult 
     donors and cord blood units through a single point of access.
       ``(4) Definition.--The term `qualified cord blood stem cell 
     bank' means a cord blood stem cell bank that--
       ``(A) has obtained all applicable Federal and State 
     licenses, certifications, registrations (including pursuant 
     to the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration), and 
     other authorizations required to operate and maintain a cord 
     blood stem cell bank;
       ``(B) has implemented donor screening, cord blood 
     collection practices, and processing methods intended to 
     protect the health and safety of donors and transplant 
     recipients to improve transplant outcomes, including with 
     respect to the transmission of potentially harmful infections 
     and other diseases;
       ``(C) is accredited by an accreditation body recognized 
     pursuant to a public process by the Secretary;
       ``(D) has established a system of strict confidentiality to 
     protect the identity and privacy of patients and donors in 
     accordance with existing Federal and State law; and
       ``(E) has established a system for encouraging donation by 
     a genetically diverse group of donors.'';
       (4) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``The Registry shall 
     carry out a program for the recruitment'' and inserting 
     ``With respect to bone marrow, the Program shall carry out a 
     program for the recruitment'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)(A)--
       (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking the 
     first sentence and inserting ``In carrying out the program 
     under paragraph (1), the Program shall carry out 
     informational and educational activities, in coordination 
     with organ donation public awareness campaigns operated 
     through the Department of Health and Human Services, for 
     purposes of recruiting individuals to serve as donors of bone 
     marrow and shall test and enroll with the Program potential 
     donors.''; and
       (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``, including providing 
     updates''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``the availability, as a 
     potential treatment option, of receiving a transplant of bone 
     marrow from an unrelated donor'' and inserting ``transplants 
     from unrelated donors as a treatment option and resources for 
     identifying and evaluating other therapeutic alternatives'';
       (5) in subsection (d)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``The Registry shall'' 
     and inserting ``With respect to bone marrow, the Program 
     shall'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting ``and assist with 
     information regarding third party payor matters'' after 
     ``ongoing search for a donor'';
       (C) in subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) of paragraph (2), by 
     striking the term ``subsection (b)(1)'' each place such term 
     appears and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)'';
       (D) in paragraph (2)(F)--
       (i) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
       (ii) by inserting after clause (iv) the following:
       ``(v) Information concerning issues that patients may face 
     after a transplant regarding continuity of care and quality 
     of life.''; and
       (E) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``Office may'' and 
     inserting ``Office shall'';
       (6) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) in subsection 
     (e), by striking ``the Secretary shall'' and inserting ``with 
     respect to bone marrow, the Secretary shall'';
       (7) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:
       ``(f) Comment Procedures.--The Secretary shall establish 
     and provide information to the public on procedures under 
     which the Secretary shall receive and consider comments from 
     interested persons relating to the manner in which the 
     Program is carrying out the duties of the Program.'';
       (8) by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:
       ``(g) Consultation.--In developing policies affecting the 
     Program, the Secretary shall consult with the Advisory 
     Council, the Department of Defense Marrow Donor Recruitment 
     and Research Program operated by the Department of the Navy, 
     and the board of directors of each entity awarded a contract 
     under this section.'';
       (9) in subsection (h)--
       (A) by striking ``Application.--'' and inserting 
     ``Contracts.--'';
       (B) by striking ``To be eligible'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(1) Application.--To be eligible''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) Considerations.--In awarding contracts under this 
     section, the Secretary shall give substantial weight to the 
     continued safety of donors and patients and other factors 
     deemed appropriate by the Secretary.''; and
       (10) by striking subsection (l).
       (b) Stem Cell Therapeutic Outcomes Database.--Section 379A 
     of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274l) is amended 
     to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 379A. STEM CELL THERAPEUTIC OUTCOMES DATABASE.

       ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall by contract 
     establish and maintain a scientific database of information 
     relating to patients who have been recipients of stem cell 
     therapeutics product (including bone marrow, cord blood, or 
     other such product) from a biologically unrelated donor.
       ``(b) Information.--The outcomes database shall include 
     information with respect to patients described in subsection 
     (a), transplant procedures, and such other information as the 
     Secretary determines to be appropriate, to conduct an ongoing 
     evaluation of the scientific and clinical status of 
     transplantation involving recipients of bone marrow from 
     biologically unrelated donors and recipients of a stem cell 
     therapeutics product.
       ``(c) Annual Report on Patient Outcomes.--The Secretary 
     shall require the entity awarded a contract under this 
     section to submit to the Secretary an annual report 
     concerning patient outcomes with respect to each transplant 
     center, based on data collected and maintained by the entity 
     pursuant to this section.
       ``(d) Publicly Available Data.--The outcomes database shall 
     make relevant scientific information not containing 
     individually identifiable information available to the public 
     in the form of summaries and data sets to encourage medical 
     research and to provide information to transplant programs, 
     physicians, patients, entities awarded a contract under 
     section 379 donor registries, and cord blood stem cell 
     banks.''.
       (c) Definitions.--Part I of title III of the Public Health 
     Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274k et seq.) is amended by inserting 
     after section 379A the following:

     ``SEC. 379A-1. DEFINITIONS.

       ``In this part:
       ``(1) The term `Advisory Council' means the advisory 
     council established by the Secretary under section 379(a)(1).
       ``(2) The term `bone marrow' means the cells found in adult 
     bone marrow and peripheral blood.
       ``(3) The term `outcomes database' means the database 
     established by the Secretary under section 379A.
       ``(4) The term `Program' means the C.W. Bill Young Cell 
     Transplantation Program established under section 379.''.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 379B of the 
     Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274m) is amended to read 
     as follows:

     ``SEC. 379B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``(a) In General.--For the purpose of carrying out this 
     part, there are authorized to be appropriated $28,000,000 for 
     fiscal year 2006 and $32,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
     2007 through 2010.
       ``(b) Emergency Contingency Response Capabilities.--In 
     addition to the amounts authorized to be appropriated under 
     subsection (a), there is authorized to be appropriated 
     $2,000,000 for the maintenance and expansion of emergency 
     contingency response capabilities under section 
     379(b)(1)(C).''.
       (e) Conforming Amendments.--Part I of title III of the 
     Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274k et seq.) is 
     amended--

[[Page 10988]]

       (1) in the title heading, by striking ``NATIONAL BONE 
     MARROW DONOR REGISTRY'' and inserting ``C.W. BILL YOUNG CELL 
     TRANSPLANTATION PROGRAM''; and
       (2) in section 379, as amended by this section--
       (A) in subsection (a), by striking the term ``board'' each 
     place such term appears and inserting ``Advisory Council'';
       (B) in subection (c)--
       (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) in paragraph 
     (1), by striking ``Such program'' and inserting ``Such 
     recruitment program'';
       (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``program under 
     paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``recruitment program under 
     paragraph (1)''; and
       (iii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``program under 
     paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``recruitment program under 
     paragraph (1)'';
       (C) in subsection (d)(2)(E), by striking ``Registry 
     program'' and inserting ``Program'';
       (D) in subsection (e)--
       (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``participating in the program, including the Registry,'' and 
     inserting ``participating in the Program, including''; and
       (ii) in paragraph (6), by striking ``the program'' and 
     inserting ``the Program''; and
       (E) by striking the term ``Registry'' each place such term 
     appears and inserting ``Program''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Barton) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on 
the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2520, the Stem Cell 
Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, legislation I have cosponsored 
along with the honorable gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who is 
in the Chamber. This would expand the number of stem cell options 
available to Americans suffering from life-threatening diseases.
  Every year, nearly two-thirds of the approximately 200,000 patients 
in need of a bone marrow transplant will not find a marrow donor match 
within their families. These patients must rely on the help of 
strangers to donate bone marrow for a transplant. To assist these 
patients, Congress established the National Bone Marrow Registry to 
quickly match donors to patients. Through this program, Congress made a 
significant investment to connect patients with a rich source of stem 
cells that offer immediate clinical benefits.
  With scientific advances, Congress must now make changes to reflect 
new therapeutic options. Cord blood units have been shown to be a 
suitable alternative to adult bone marrow for the treatment of many 
diseases, including sickle cell anemia. This is an especially important 
advancement for those Americans who have desperately searched for a 
marrow donor but could not find a match with even the help of the 
National Bone Marrow Registry. As another rich source of stem cells, a 
cord blood transplant is another chance at life for many of these 
patients.
  The bill before us today builds on the critical investments we have 
made over the past 2 decades with the National Bone Marrow Registry and 
retools this design into a new, more comprehensive stem cell 
transplantation program, which will include not only bone marrow but 
also cord blood units. Through a competitive contracting process, this 
new program will allow transplant doctors and patients to access 
information about cord blood units and bone marrow donors, at the same 
time, and I want to emphasize at the same time, through a single point 
of access. This new program does not create a preference for either 
cord blood or bone marrow. Instead, it will provide comprehensive 
information about both sources of stem cells to doctors and patients 
and allow them to make the most clinically appropriate choice.
  I want to recognize the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) at this 
time. It was the gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Young) drive, when he 
was chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and his steadfast 
support for the idea of a national registry for bone marrow that led to 
the program's creation. The gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Young) 
lifesaving work is evident again today in the program's new design and 
goals. I am pleased that Congress is recognizing his dedication by 
naming this new program the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation 
Program. I do not see the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) in the 
Chamber, but at the appropriate time when he does arrive, I hope that 
the body will give him a standing ovation for his work in this area.
  The capacity to search for cord blood units through a national 
network of cord blood banks will help facilitate cord blood 
transplants. We also need to expand the inventory of cord blood units 
so that more transplants can occur. The bill before us today authorizes 
a new grant program to provide subsidies to cord blood stem cell banks 
to expand the inventory of high-quality cord blood units that will be 
included in the new, expanded Cell Transplantation Program. I think 
that number is 150,000 units, which is a significant increase.
  In addition to expanding the number of cord blood units available for 
clinical use to save lives today, the bill would also expand the number 
of cord blood units available for research. Research on adult stem 
cells holds the potential to develop new cures for many diseases, as 
well as to expand our knowledge of how human beings develop and the 
body works.
  I would also like to make a personal aside here. My wife and I are 
expecting a child in September, and we are working with the cord blood 
people as we speak so that my son, and it is going to be a little boy 
and we are going to name him Jack Kevin, that we are going to save his 
cord blood so that some day in the future, if he needs it, it will be 
available. So in this case I can honestly say, in addition to 
sponsoring the bill, I am beginning to practice what I am preaching 
today.
  It is not enough to connect patients with lifesaving donors. We also 
need to better understand how these patients fair when they receive the 
transplants. The bill would authorize research on the clinical outcomes 
of patients who are recipients of a stem cell therapeutic product, 
including bone marrow, cord blood, and other such products, from a 
biologically unrelated donor. It is my hope that this additional 
research will trigger new scientific breakthroughs to enhance and 
advance human life.
  This is an important bill that merited many hours of negotiation, 
demanded the willingness of all those involved to put the interest of 
their patients first. I would like to thank the bill's primary sponsor, 
the honorable gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). I would also like 
to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young); the House leadership, 
including the honorable gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay); Congressional 
Black Caucus; the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the ranking 
Democrat on the committee; the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
subcommittee ranking member who is here to speak on the bill; and all 
of the staff who have labored on this bill.
  Particularly, I would like to thank Cheryl Jaeger, on my left, of my 
committee staff, for all of her efforts. She has been tireless in the 
last several months working on this bill. In the last few weeks, she 
has been able to forge a compromise that ultimately was acceptable to 
all the advocates of both bone marrow and cord blood.
  We will continue to improve the legislation that moves forward so 
that pregnant women are informed of all of their options with respect 
to cord blood donation and the programmatic activities of the Cell 
Transplantation Program are clarified.
  Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I would urge all of my 
colleagues to support this bill. It is good legislation, well thought 
out, and deserving of majority support.

[[Page 10989]]



   The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 Establishes a 
    Foundation for Improving Access to Lifesaving Cellular Therapy 
                              Transplants

       The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) is pleased that 
     the sponsors of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 
     2005 have taken a positive step forward toward expanding the 
     long-standing Congressional commitment to cellular transplant 
     therapies by introducing legislation to continue Federal 
     support for bone marrow, peripheral blood, and umbilical cord 
     blood transplantation and research. Through the legislation 
     introduced today, they acknowledge the important role 
     Congress has played and must continue to play in ensuring 
     that the more than 14,000 Americans in need of these types of 
     transplants have access to them.
       The bill calls for Federal dollars to increase the number 
     of umbilical cord blood units available for transplant and 
     research. Currently, there are 42,000 units available through 
     the existing National Bone Marrow Donor Registry (National 
     Registry), which also lists more than 9 million adult donors 
     worldwide. With additional umbilical cord blood units added 
     to this registry, more Americans who would otherwise not be 
     able to locate a suitably matched adult donor will be able to 
     find hope through a cord blood transplant. The NMDP estimates 
     that with access to the existing adult donors and units, the 
     addition of 150,000 cord blood units listed through the 
     existing registry will provide a match for approximately 95 
     percent of Americans.
       By designating the existing National Registry as the C.W. 
     Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, the sponsors have 
     acknowledged Representative Young's unwavering commitment to 
     the National Registry and its growth. In 1986, Representative 
     Young's vision of a single integrated national bone marrow 
     donor registry became a reality. Since that time, the 
     National Registry has facilitated more than 21,000 unrelated 
     transplants involving cord blood, bone marrow, and peripheral 
     blood. It now includes more than 5 million U.S. adult 
     volunteer donors and has links to another 4 million 
     worldwide. As evidence supporting cord blood as a source of 
     the same cells found in bone marrow and peripheral blood has 
     grown, the National Registry, operated by the NMDP, has 
     expanded to include more than 42,000 cord blood units through 
     the NMDP's partnership with 14 of the 20 U.S. public cord 
     blood banks. We join the sponsors in saluting Representative 
     Young's dedication to helping the thousands of Americans in 
     need of these types of transplants.
       The expansion of the Program will benefit patients most if 
     they are able to access the new sources of cells easily and 
     efficiently. The NMDP supports the intent of the sponsors to 
     provide patients and physicians with access to cord blood, 
     bone marrow, and peripheral blood stem cells through a single 
     point of access. To ensure the continued expansion of cord 
     blood transplants, it is important that patients and 
     physicians can search for all of these sources through a 
     single registry, compare each source of cells for transplant 
     quickly and efficiently, and obtain the cells once the search 
     process is finished. One-stop-shopping to obtain information 
     and logistical support is a critical component of the success 
     of transplantation regardless of whether adult donors or cord 
     blood units are used. The bill recognizes this need by 
     calling for a single point of access for these activities to 
     build upon the National Registry. Using the current registry 
     as a basis for the new program will ensure that limited 
     resources are dedicated to increasing the availability of 
     matches and not in reinventing new bureaucracies.
       Although this bill is a step in the right direction, it is 
     critically important that the Program also have the authority 
     to establish criteria and standards that provide transplant 
     physicians with the assurances they need to be confident that 
     when they compare various cord blood units and/or adult 
     donors, they have the same type of information about each 
     unit or donor. In addition, the NMDP urges members to 
     recognize that transplant patients may encounter other 
     barriers to accessing cellular therapy transplants. The need 
     for assistance in addressing barriers to access should be 
     extended to all recipients of transplants under this program, 
     regardless of cell source. Physicians and patients must be 
     able to receive all of the services necessary for a 
     successful transplant, including distribution coordination, 
     patient counseling, translation assistance, testing, 
     insurance coordination, and other patient advocacy services. 
     We look forward to working with the sponsors and the 
     Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen these 
     provisions of the legislation.
       The NMDP applauds the sponsors for undertaking this 
     important public health initiative. Through their leadership, 
     thousands of Americans who might otherwise die will have 
     access to lifesaving bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell, 
     and cord blood transplants.
                                  ____


            Statement of Administration Policy--May 24, 2005

       H.R. 2520--Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005

                 (Rep. Smith (R) NJ and 78 cosponsors)

       The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 
     2520, which would facilitate the use of umbilical-cord-blood 
     stem cells in biomedical research and in the treatment of 
     disease. Cord-blood stem cells, collected from the placenta 
     and umbilical cord after birth without doing harm to mother 
     or child, have been used in the treatment of thousands of 
     patients suffering from more than 60 different diseases, 
     including leukemia, Fanconi anemia, sickle cell disease, and 
     thalassemia. Researchers also believe cord-blood stem cells 
     may have the capacity to be differentiated into other cell 
     types, making them useful in the exploration of ethical stem 
     cell therapies for regenerative medicine.
       H.R. 2520 would increase the publicly available inventory 
     of cord-blood stem cells by enabling the Department of Health 
     and Human Services (HHS) to contract with cord-blood banks to 
     assist them in the collection and maintenance of 150,000 
     cord-blood stem cell units. This would make matched cells 
     available to treat more than 90 percent of patients in need. 
     The bill would also link all participating cord-blood banks 
     to a search network operated under contract with HHS, 
     allowing physicians to search for matches for their patients 
     quickly and effectively in one place. The bill also would 
     reauthorize a similar program already in place for aiding the 
     use of adult bone marrow in medical care. There is now $19 
     million available to implement the Cord Blood Cell Bank 
     program; the Administration will work with the Congress to 
     evaluate future spending requirements for these activities. 
     The bill is also consistent with the recommendation from the 
     National Academy of Science to create a National Cord Blood 
     Stem Cell Bank program.
       The Administration also applauds the bill's effort to 
     facilitate research into the potential of cord-blood stem 
     cells to advance regenerative medicine in an ethical way. 
     Some research indicates that cord blood cells may have the 
     ability to be differentiated into other cell types, in ways 
     similar to embryonic stem cells, and so present similar 
     potential uses but without raising the ethical problems 
     involved in the intentional destruction of human embryos. The 
     Administration encourages efforts to seek ethical ways to 
     pursue stem cell research, and believes that--with the 
     appropriate combination of responsible policies and 
     innovative scientific techniques--this field of research can 
     advance without violating important ethical boundaries. H.R. 
     2520 is an important step in that direction.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, we will consider two bills that have significant 
bearing on the future of medicine and medical research in our country. 
I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) for their work on the first of these 
bills. The Smith-Barton legislation reauthorizes the National Bone 
Marrow Donor Program and adds a new national cord blood registry. Cord 
blood and bone marrow have several therapeutic uses in common: first 
and foremost, the treatment of blood diseases. Coordinating these two 
registries makes sense for patients, for doctors, and for the public 
health. With this kind of coordinated program, there will be a single 
entry point for transplant doctors and their patients to locate 
available cord blood units.
  This bill also increases outreach and education efforts so that we 
can amass the most diverse possible reserves of cord blood. It improves 
data keeping and distribution so that necessary blood gets to patients 
as quickly and as accurately as possible. In addition to the 
therapeutic uses of cord blood, this bill makes cord blood stem cells 
available for research purposes.
  There is clearly therapeutic potential in the use of cord blood and 
adult stem cells. Some of the most important research in this area is 
taking place in Ohio, in northeast Ohio, where I call home, at the 
National Center for Regenerative Medicine, a partnership of Case 
Western Reserve University hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic in 
Cleveland.
  I mentioned we will be considering two bills today that have 
significant bearing on the future of medicine. And it is in the 
research area that the distinctions between these two bills takes on 
the greatest significance.

                              {time}  1230

  Smith-Barton focuses on cord-blood and adult stem cell research. In 
the Castle-DeGette bipartisan bill, it focuses on embryonic stem cell 
research.

[[Page 10990]]

That is a critical distinction, and the House needs to acknowledge 
that. Cord-blood and adult stem cell research are not substitutes for 
embryonic stem cell research. They are not alternative avenues to the 
same medical outcomes. Each type of research holds unique potential.
  For example, while adult stem cells represent an important advance in 
the treatment of blood disorders, these cells simply do not occur in 
every tissue in the body. Because there are no adult stem cells, for 
example, in the pancreas, the potential of adult stem cells to develop 
into therapies for a disease like diabetes is very limited. That is one 
example of many.
  Embryonic stem cell, on the other hand, can grow into any type of 
cell in the body, making potential use of these far more diverse and 
far more valuable.
  We should not minimize the importance of cord-blood and adult stem 
cell research, but by the same token, we shouldn't mislead the public 
into believing that if Smith-Barton passes, the Castle-DeGette bill is 
unnecessary, because surely it is not. It is irresponsible and even 
dangerous for Members of this body to distort the value of one form of 
research in order to stifle another promising avenue of research.
  We in this Congress have a responsibility to support medical research 
and to foster its development, as the committee of the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Barton) committee has done well over time. Millions of lives 
have been saved and improved because of the brilliant research 
conducted in this country. We also have a responsibility to speak 
honestly about that research and its potential.
  Both sides of this debate owe it to the public to draw clear lines 
between the beliefs we hold and the facts that hold, regardless of what 
we believe. The fact is that cord-blood research, adult stem cell 
research and embryonic stem cell research are not interchangeable. The 
fact is, if we invest in all three types of research, we may finally be 
able to find cures for debilitating illnesses, cures that are currently 
beyond our reach.
  The fact is, if the U.S. withholds funding for embryonic stem cell 
research, that research will continue, just at a significantly slower 
pace. People that you and I know, they may be friends, they may be 
family members, they may be professional colleagues, will suffer and 
die from potentially curable illnesses while we wait for the rest of 
the world to fill our shoes.
  Researchers in other nations, researchers in private institutions in 
this country, are pursuing embryonic stem cell research because they 
know that it is possible to accomplish this research in an ethical 
manner. Embryonic stem cell research does not and need not increase the 
number of embryos that are destroyed. Instead, it decreases the number 
of embryos that are destroyed in vain.
  We will have an opportunity today to pass two pieces of legislation, 
both are important, that will deliver hope to patients whose futures 
depend on new answers to life and death medical questions. Our Nation 
cannot pick and choose between cord-blood research and adult stem cell 
research and embryonic stem cell research if we want to answer all 
these questions, unless we want to offer hope to some and sympathy to 
others.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to vote in favor of both the Smith-Barton 
bill and the Castle-DeGette bill. Doing so will show that what you know 
and what you believe intersects at the point where medical progress is 
harnessed to alleviate untold human suffering.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that debate 
on this motion be extended by 20 minutes, equally divided between 
myself and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the original author of the bill and my 
cosponsor.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
yielding and for his leadership on this bill and for cosponsoring it, 
along with the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) on the other side of 
the aisle for his leadership over the last 3 years as we crafted this 
legislation. It is finally on the floor after almost 3 years of work; 
and again I thank my friend, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) for 
his leadership.
  One of the best kept secrets in America today is that umbilical cord-
blood stem cells and adult stem cells are curing people of a myriad of 
terrible conditions and diseases. One of the greatest hopes that I have 
is that these current-day miracles, denied to many because of an 
insufficient inventory and inefficient means of matching cord-blood 
stem cells with patients, will now become available to tens of 
thousands of patients as a direct result of the Stem Cell Therapeutic 
and Research Act of 2005, H.R. 2520.
  Amazingly, we are on the threshold of systematically turning medical 
waste, umbilical cords and placentas, into medical miracles for huge 
numbers of very sick and terminally ill patients who suffer from such 
maladies as leukemia and sickle cell anemia. And because this 
legislation promotes cord-blood research as well, we can expect new and 
expanded uses of these very versatile stem cells.
  For the first time ever, our bill establishes a nationwide stem cell 
transplantation system. It also authorizes the national bone marrow 
transplant system and combines both under a new program, providing an 
easy, single-access point for information for doctors and patients and 
for the purpose of collecting and analyzing outcomes data.
  The new program created in our legislation is named for our 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), 
because of all of his great work on bone marrow transplantation over 
the last 2 decades.
  Mr. Speaker, cord-blood stem cells are already treating and curing 
patients. Unlike embryonic stem cell research that has not cured one 
person, cord-blood stem cells are treating patients. The New York Blood 
Center, for example, has treated thousands of patients with more than 
65 different diseases, including sickle cell disease, leukemia and 
osteoporosis.
  Some of those patients came and told their stories yesterday at a 
press conference, and they are in the gallery watching this debate 
right now. One of those men, a young man named Keonne Penn was here to 
tell his story of how he was cured of sickle cell anemia, and he said, 
``If it wasn't for cord-blood stem cells, I would probably be dead by 
now. It is a good thing I found a match. It saved my life.''
  Stephen Sprague, another man who was cured of leukemia, said he too 
was lucky to find a cord-blood match. And 22-year-old Jaclyn Albanese, 
who just graduated from Rutgers University from my State, said, ``If 
the New York blood center had not been there, I do not know what kind 
of shape I would be in.'' She is thankful as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleagues, cord-blood has also been used to 
treat Hurler's disease and Krabbe's disease, both neurological 
conditions, which blows away the idea that cord-blood stem cells are 
limited in the potential and the capacity to turn into other kinds of 
cells. That is not too surprising, I say to my colleagues, when you 
simply read the published literature on the flexibility of cord-blood 
stem cells.
  According to a July 2004 study published in the Journal of 
Experimental Medicine, a research group led by Dr. Kogler found ``a new 
human somatic stem cell from placental cord-blood with intrinsic 
pluripotent differential potential,'' which means it can become any 
type of cell in the body. In addition, they found that the cells could 
expand to 10 quadrillion, or 10 to the power of 15, cells before losing 
any pluripotent abilities.
  And cord-blood stem cells are not only ahead in treating real human 
patients, they are also able to turn into different kinds of cells for 
research. One company has already turned cord-blood stem cells into 
representatives of

[[Page 10991]]

three germinal layers, including neural stem cells, nerve stem cells, 
liver/pancreas precursors, skeletal muscle, fat cells, bone cells and 
blood vessels.
  Last month, Celgene Corporation announced that cord-blood cells ``are 
`pluripotent', or have the ability to become different types of 
tissue.'' So we are just on the beginning of realizing the vast 
potential of what was formerly medical waste and has now been turned 
into these medical miracles.
  Let me just say to my colleagues that this idea that research on bone 
marrow and cord-blood stem cells has been researched on for decades and 
that embryo stem cells have only been researched for a short time is 
ludicrous and an unfair attack on cord-blood stem cell research. During 
the entire period where research has been happening in this area of 
regenerative medicine, the idea that cells can change types and repair 
organs, both adult and embryo cells have been around in animals. And, 
again, great progress has been made in the cord-blood and the adult 
stem cell. My bill needs to be passed.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Matsui).
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2520, as 
well as the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, as both bills are part 
of today's larger debate on stem cell research and the hope being 
offered with them.
  As Samuel Smiles said, ``Hope is the companion of power and the 
mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of 
miracles.''
  That is what today's debate is about, because at its core, stem cell 
research is about the idea of hope and miracles, a hope which has 
become quite personal for me. As you know, my husband Bob, who worked 
with all of you for so many years, suffered from a rare bone marrow 
disorder. I saw what this disease did to him. I saw his life cut short. 
And it is my hope that by expanding stem cell research, other families 
will have more than just a hope for a cure for this disease, as well as 
many, many others.
  But to be effective, hope and optimism need to be based on a 
possibility. This is what we are talking about today, whether or not 
this country will close the door on hope on the unexplainable, on what 
is truly a miracle. It is clear that by passing this bill and the Stem 
Cell Research Enhancement Act we will not be reading articles in next 
week's paper that we found the cure for cancer or any other disease, 
that we hope to be effected. But I feel strongly that the effects of 
Federal dollars and involvement in stem cell research will make an 
unquestionable difference.
  Our country has been a leader in so many areas of medicine. Now is 
not the time to cede our role to countries like South Korea, France or 
Great Britain. By doing so, we will not only diminish the contributions 
of Americans, but also our ability to shape and impact the ethical 
debate.
  Both bills are an important step in harnessing the power of optimism. 
I hope we will not ignore this opportunity.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Ferguson), a member of the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce.
  Mr. FERGUSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, today we will hear some of our colleagues talk about the 
empty promise of embryonic stem cell research. They will argue for 
research that not only requires the destruction of human life, but to 
date, has also not yielded a single therapy.
  What we in Congress should be advocating for is the continuing 
advancement of adult stem cell research, a true scientific success 
story, which has benefited thousands of Americans already.
  Perhaps nowhere is this success more evident than in the advancement 
of cord-blood stem cells. A rich source of stem cells, umbilical cords 
are already treating patients. Cord-blood stem cells have already been 
used to treat thousands of patients and more than 67 different 
diseases, including leukemia, sickle cell anemia and lymphoma. The New 
York Blood Center's National cord-blood program alone has provided 
transplants to over 1,500 gravely ill children and adults.
  And there is great promise for the future. Studies have shown that 
these cells have the capacity to change into other cell types, giving 
them potential to treat debilitating conditions such as Parkinson's 
disease, spinal cord injury and diabetes.
  The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act focuses government efforts 
on research with real promise, providing Federal funding to increase 
the number of cord-blood units available to match and treat patients.
  The bill also takes on the recommendations of the Institute of 
Medicine, providing a national network that would link all the cord-
blood banks participating in an inventory program into a search system, 
allowing transplant physicians to search for cord-blood and bone marrow 
matches through a single-access point.

                              {time}  1245

  It would also promote additional stem cell research for units not 
suitable for transplant. The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act 
advances true stem cell research, research with real promise, grounded 
in proven science; and it is ethically sound.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important and 
timely legislation.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by joining the 
various Members of this institution who will speak today and who will 
urge the passage of both of these bills. I certainly cannot speak with 
the particular passion of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui) 
who has been touched by this issue, but this is a very good day for the 
House of Representatives. It is a very good day, because we have 
managed to reach across the partisan divides, I believe twice today, or 
we will manage to reach across the partisan divide, I believe twice 
today, to pass bills that are good for the American people and good for 
countless numbers of Americans who need this research.
  I want to say something about the cord blood bill in particular. I 
have had the honor for 2 years of working with the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) on this bill, and I am a Democratic sponsor on it; 
and I want to thank him for his good work.
  This bill will make an enormous difference to the African Americans 
around this country who often struggle with blood matches. Cord bloods 
do not require a blood match. The young man that we saw on the Cannon 
terrace yesterday who suffered from sickle cell anemia whose life has 
been permanently transformed by cord blood cell technology speaks to 
the power of this bill. We talk a great deal about health care 
disparities, and we ought to talk about health care disparities in this 
country; but rather than talk, this bill acts. It actually provides 
relief for a group of people who otherwise would not have seen it.
  But I want to talk for just a moment about the concept of principled 
difference, because I think it is very much illustrated today. Mr. 
Speaker, the reason that this cord blood bill made it to the floor is 
in large measure because rather than digging in in opposition to stem 
cell opposition, as strongly as the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) feels about this issue, rather than digging in in opposition, 
the gentleman worked with the scientific community, he worked across 
the aisle to try to find another approach. And as circumstance has it, 
both of these approaches are before us today.
  If we would somehow as an institution learn from his example, if we 
figured out how, rather than digging in and deciding how much we 
disagree with each other, what other ways exist, what ways can we find 
to work together, we would not have a 34 percent approval rating as an 
institution.
  The final point that I will make is that I firmly believe that we 
have all of our genius and all of our brilliance as a scientific and 
medical community for a very good reason. I think that we are

[[Page 10992]]

meant to use it. I am hopeful that all of the technological advances 
that have happened in the last several years, with cord blood cells and 
with stem cells, can make a significant difference.
  So to all the Members of this institution, I simply urge them and 
encourage them to vote for both of these bills but, even more 
importantly, to accept this as an example of what happens when 
Democrats and Republicans find intelligent common ground. There will be 
people who will benefit from this, and I do not think it is going too 
far to say that lives will be saved because of these two bills.
  So I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his good 
work and, again, I am honored to be the lead Democratic sponsor of the 
cord blood bill.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), a doctor, and one of 
our more thoughtful Members on this subject and somebody who has given 
a lot of time to it.
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I commend the chairman of the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce and his staff, as well as the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for their diligent work on 
bringing this very, very good bill to the floor of the House.
  What we are going to be voting for here will help create a banking 
system so that if a patient comes in to see me with a particular 
illness that is amenable to treatment with stem cells, I can enter 
their genetic information in a computer, find a match of cord blood 
that would be kept in a freezer, and actually treat the patient. It is 
really exciting, I have to say. I never thought I would live to see the 
day where we would be curing sickle cell anemia. And for those of my 
colleagues who do not know about sickle cell anemia, sickle cell is a 
terrible disease. You get these young people, kids, coming in your 
office with these horrible, painful crises where their bones are aching 
and you end up having to give them narcotics and transfuse them. It 
stunts their growth, horrible condition. We now have 10, 10 kids that 
have been cured of sickle cell anemia.
  Just yesterday I was flying up here, and as I often do, I grabbed 
some medical journals to read on the plane. I was reading the May 19 
issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and, lo and behold, 
another research article, this one on transplantation of umbilical cord 
blood in babies with Infantile Krabbe's disease, a rare disease, a 
terrible disease, the babies die; and this cord blood study shows if 
you catch it early, you can actually cure these kids.
  I know there have been a number of Members coming to the floor 
talking about the embryonic bill that we are going to take up later; 
the embryonic stem cells have never been shown to be successfully 
useful in a human model. They do not even have one case. We have 
thousands of people who have been treated with adult stem cells and 
these cord blood treatments.
  I just want to correct the gentleman from Alabama. He has implied 
some of us are against stem cell research. That is not the case at all 
here. We are just for ethical stem cell research.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking Member for 
yielding me this time.
  Let me thank the sponsors of this legislation, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis), and, of course, the gentlewoman 
from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) and the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. 
Castle) for the second bill, the bills being H.R. 810 and H.R. 2520.
  Let me just say that separating these two legislative initiatives 
would be like separating the Flag from the Pledge of Allegiance. It is 
appropriate to have a marriage today of two very vital and important 
legislative initiatives, one dealing with adult stem cell research, 
which is vital and done along ethical lines and will help many in our 
community that have a number of significant diseases; in particular, 
Alzheimer's and sickle cell anemia. Then, of course, the importance of 
stem cell lines and expanding it under Federal funding is something 
that we cannot imagine.
  Let me tell my colleagues about an individual that I love and admire 
in my community, Reverend M.L. Jackson, exciting, exuberant, a leader 
in our community. His family just said that with all of his leadership 
and heading up ministerial alliances, he has Alzheimer's. I go home 
this weekend to meet with Reverend Jackson and to recount his life with 
him as he now sees it. But would it not be wonderful for a vibrant and 
outstanding leader of our community to have an expanded opportunity, as 
Nancy Reagan argued for, for President Reagan.
  Unless Federal funding for stem cell research is expanded, the United 
States stands in real danger of falling behind other countries in this 
promising area of research. I would mention that the National Academy 
of Sciences recently issued a set of guidelines to ensure that human 
embryonic stem cell research is conducted in a safe and ethical manner.
  This legislation, the Castle-DeGette legislation, H.R. 810, and, of 
course, the fantastic and forward-thinking legislation, H.R. 2520, 
sponsored by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis), 
represents a coming together of our family. It certainly deserves a 
good marriage. Just as we cannot separate the Pledge and the Flag, let 
us unite today and vote unanimously on these two outstanding 
initiatives to support American stem cell research, and to save lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning in support of the ``Stem Cell 
Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005.'' This measure, sponsored by 
Christopher H. Smith, Joe Barton, and Artur Davis would promote 
research on a type of stem cell, known as an adult stem cell, taken 
from umbilical cord blood. In addition, the bill creates a new federal 
program to collect and store umbilical-cord-blood stem cells, and 
expands the current bone-marrow registry program.
  While I have no objections to the bill, it is important that no one 
view H.R. 2520 as a substitute for H.R. 810, the ``Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act.'' These are entirely different bills, but both deserve 
passage.
  Recent discoveries have convinced scientists that stem cells might 
eventually become the key to treating diseases such as Parkinson's, 
diabetes, and heart disease. Researchers hope to be able to study stem 
cells to better understand how diseases develop and eventually use them 
to generate tissues that could replace damaged or diseased tissues and 
organs in patients.
  Adult stem cells are unspecialized cells found in specialized tissue 
such as bone marrow or skeletal tissue. Initially, scientists viewed 
their medical applications as limited in what they can become to the 
cell types from which they were extracted. Recent evidence has 
suggested that adult stem cells could provide more flexibility than 
previously thought, according to the National Institutes of Health.
  This legislation would create a new federal program to collect and 
store umbilical-cord-blood stem cells, and reauthorizes and expands the 
current bone marrow registry program. I am supportive of this bill 
because it would be of great benefit to African Americans. This bill 
has specific language that would diversify the Bone Marrow Banks of 
this nation. This would be of extreme importance to many African 
Americans suffering from Sickle Cell Anemia.
  As you can see, these are complicated issues, but I think we are 
headed in the right direction. This bill would help our doctors and 
scientists discover new treatments and cures for otherwise debilitating 
and incurable diseases and ailments. For this I must support it. 
However, I cannot support this bill without clarifying that it should 
not be viewed as an alternative to H.R. 810, rather as a complementary 
force.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the 
gentleman for yielding me this time.
  I rise in support of H.R. 2520, which I really view as a 
noncontroversial, bipartisan piece of legislation that we should all be 
able to agree on. I think one speaker a moment ago talked about science 
and our obligation to

[[Page 10993]]

promote science. I would agree with him, but with this caveat: science 
tells us what we can do; science does not tell us what we should do. 
That is an ethical dimension, and we are called upon oftentimes to 
decide what the ethical thing to do is.
  Here we have a piece of legislation dealing with an emerging area of 
science, but one that has already proven itself to be effective in 
human application and one that also shows itself to be easily obtained, 
that is, we either throw away umbilical cords, throw away the umbilical 
cord and the placenta at the time of birth, or we save the blood that 
can be captured at that time to make it available such that the stem 
cells can be taken from that and utilized in this therapeutic fashion. 
This bill would also allow us to do research with these stem cells.
  There is a tremendous frontier out there. There is a tremendous 
frontier that shows tremendous opportunity for success. I do not want 
to overhype it. I do not know far it will go, but certainly it has not 
gotten the attention that needs to be given it. When we talk about stem 
cells, we can talk about how we obtain the stem cells. We can do it in 
several ways. And there is an ethical dimension, an ethical dilemma 
that exists with respect to the second bill that will be up today. 
There is no such dilemma that exists with respect to this bill.
  We can obtain this in very easy ways, voluntarily, asking mothers at 
the time their children are born to donate these units such that others 
might be helped. We have been laggard in our approach to this 
particular area of science. Again, I say, where we have no ethical 
question, where we have strong support from the scientific community, 
we should do no less than to support this bill strongly.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2520, the Stem Cell 
Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005. The gentleman from Texas 
(Chairman Barton), the gentleman from Michigan (Ranking Member 
Dingell), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Davis) are to be applauded for their leadership and 
the bipartisan way in which they worked to craft this bill and bring it 
to the floor today.
  I have come to this floor on numerous occasions to remind my 
colleagues about the health care crisis taking place in minority 
communities. I am proud to say that while this bill is important to 
saving the lives of all Americans, it also has the potential to 
eliminate the disparity in pain management and treatment of chronic 
diseases, and inherited ones, like sickle cell anemia in minorities.
  In September of last year, I hosted one of the first briefings on 
Capitol Hill about the importance of cord blood. As discussed then, 
with additional umbilical cord blood units added to the registry, more 
Americans, and minorities in particular, who would otherwise not be 
able to locate a suitably matched, adult transplant donor, will be able 
to find successful treatment and, thus, hope. With the addition of a 
possible 150,000 more cord blood units, we will be able to potentially 
match up to 95 percent of Americans.
  Earlier this month, the Institute of Medicine recommended that cord 
blood donors be provided with clear information about their options, 
including a balanced perspective on the different options of banking. 
The bill directs the Secretary to guarantee that education.
  But, Mr. Speaker, we need not only cord blood, but adult and 
embryonic stem cells as well to provide the full complement of this 
lifesaving therapy. As this chart shows, unlike human embryonic stem 
cells, adult stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cord blood cannot 
continually reproduce themselves and are unable to form diverse, 
nonblood cell types. The cord blood stem cells are an important tool 
for medicine, as I have said before, especially in the treatment of 
blood diseases; but they are not, they are not a substitute for 
embryonic stem cells. We need both.
  So I strongly urge support for H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Enhancement 
bill of 2005, and I urge the President to sign both bills into law. 
That bill was introduced by the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) 
and the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), and I commend them for 
their work as well.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 810 would allow important research on embryonic 
stem cells to continue. Many of the initial lines have been 
contaminated and cannot be used. Further, the bill includes strong 
safeguards to protect life and against abuse.
  I urge my colleagues to support these bills and to join me in urging 
the President to sign both bills. Through the enactment of H.R. 2520 
and H.R. 810, we can provide this lifesaving therapy to many who 
otherwise may not have any other option to improve or extend their 
lives. They and their families are depending on us.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), very briefly.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make the point 
that some misinformation perhaps inadvertently is being spread on this 
floor, that these stem cells that are derived from cord blood only have 
a blood application. That is unmitigated nonsense. It is not true. And 
I pointed out in my opening comments that in the Celgene Cellular 
Therapeutics first reported back in 2001 that placental stem cells 
turned into nerve, blood, cartilage, skin and muscle cells, and that 
since that time other studies have confirmed cord blood's pluripotent 
capability. Surely there needs to be further research.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a member of 
the committee, the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Murphy).
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding his time.
  You know, you cannot divorce medical research from medical ethics. 
And as such, it is critically important we are dealing here with 
medical facts.
  First of all, although many Members and the public and the media seem 
to get this wrong, the truth is, I believe we will have probably close 
to unanimous support for using Federal dollars for stem cell research, 
but it is important to understand the different types:
  Adult stem cell, which has much promise to harvest and grow these, 
although it has some risk for infections and other problems. Some 
30,000 people have been treated.
  Umbilical cord, which is pluripotent. It can be used in multiple 
ways. Over 6,000 cases have been treated.
  Frozen embryo research, zero. And cloning has its own problems with 
that as well.
  In the area of umbilical cord blood, one of the cases, because in my 
practice, I oftentimes dealt with children with developmental 
disabilities. One case of the New England Journal of Medicine reports 
90 percent success rate with Hurley's syndrome, a developmental 
disorder, autosomal dominant one, which ends up in severe developmental 
delays and death. Those are incredible results, incredible results that 
come from looking at the facts of what cord blood stem cell research is 
about.
  Let us not distort this discussion and confuse cord blood and 
embryonic, because when you are using cord blood, umbilical blood, you 
are not killing anyone. You are not limiting or destroying a life. You 
are taking something that has been discarded in the normal process of 
pregnancy and birth.
  Let us help support the continuation of this vital research which 
does not just show promise, but shows demonstrable results. And it does 
not involve the ending of any life in the process. This is where we 
should continue our research. This is where we must continue our work. 
This is where we must take our stand today, to continue to support 
medical research that is important. Look also at medical ethics.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, could the Chair inform both sides how 
much time is remaining?

[[Page 10994]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Flake). The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Brown) has 13 minutes. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) has 11 
minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Engel), a member of the Health Subcommittee.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) 
for yielding time to me. And I rise in support of H.R. 2520, the Stem 
Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005. This act, combined with H.R. 
810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, will go a long way 
towards helping millions of Americans who suffer from debilitating 
health conditions.
  I wholeheartedly support umbilical stem cell research, but also 
support embryonic stem cell research. As anyone who suffers from 
diabetes, Parkinson's disease, ALS, or a host of other health problems 
knows, one possible treatment is the use of stem cells to help regrow 
the tissues affected by their ailments.
  Scientists have stated that embryonic stem cells provide the best 
opportunity for devising unique treatments of these serious diseases 
since, unlike adult stem cells, they may be induced to develop into any 
type of cell. Adult stem cells are also problematic, as they are 
difficult to identify, purify and grow, and simply may not exist for 
certain diseased tissues that need to be replaced.
  Please understand that I do not discount the promise of adult stem 
cell research or cord blood research, but I agree with the National 
Institutes of Health that we must carefully study all types of adult 
and embryonic stem cells. In their words, ``Given the enormous promise 
of stem cell therapies for so many devastating diseases, NIH believes 
that it is important to simultaneously pursue all lines of research.'' 
Our loved ones deserve science's best hope for the future.
  Now, I want to say something. This is not about cloning. I oppose 
cloning of human beings. This is about the use of embryonic stem cells 
which would have been discarded anyway.
  I want to repeat that. This is about the use of embryonic stem cells 
which would have been discarded anyway. It has been estimated that 
there are currently 400,000 frozen IVF embryos, which would be 
destroyed if they are not donated for research.
  I would never condone the donation of embryos to science without the 
informed, written consent of donors and strict regulations prohibiting 
financial remuneration for potential donors. Our Nation's scientific 
research must adhere to the highest ethical standards. But it is 
important that we do embryonic stem cell research. We are falling 
behind other countries, and this is not what ought to be happening.
  President Bush has limited Federal funding of stem cell research to 
only those stem cell lines that existed prior to August of 2001. But 
unfortunately, only 22 cell lines are available for study, which 
prevents scientists from having access to important genetic cell 
diversity. Simply put, if it continues, that would not be ethical. 
Please support both bills.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
  Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith's) Stem Cell Therapeutics and 
Research Act of 2005, and commend the gentleman for his courageous and 
principled stand for the sanctity of life.
  As a physician Member, I know that significant successes are being 
reported from the use of umbilical cord stem cells in the treatment of 
67 diseases, including sickle cell anemia, leukemia, osteoporosis and 
lymphoma. There is great promise in this research. Umbilical cord stem 
cells, unlike embryonic stem cells can be matched to a recipient by 
blood type, gender, ethnicity, that results in fewer tissue rejections.
  Compare this to embryonic stem cells. Aside from the fact that 
harvesting embryonic stem cells results in the destruction of innocent 
life, embryonic stem cells are gathered without knowledge of blood cell 
type, without assurance that they are free from infection, and without 
screening for genetic defects. These embryonic stem cells may be 
mismatched, carry infection, or have genetic defects with cancer-
producing potential.
  There is a better way, Mr. Speaker. It is H.R. 2520, which enhances 
Federal funding for expanding the already successful use of umbilical 
cord stem cells. When you consider the ethics and the science and the 
debate, it is clear that cord blood stem cells are the right choice for 
our Federal funding and scientific support.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Gene Green), an outstanding member of the Health 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support not 
only H.R. 2520, but also H.R. 810, the Castle/DeGette legislation to 
expand Federal research for embryonic stem cells.
  Undoubtedly, each of us on this floor today has a friend, family 
member or neighbor who could benefit from increased embryonic stem cell 
research, whether they suffer from spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's, MS 
or juvenile diabetes. As we consider both the Castle/DeGette stem cell 
bill and the Smith legislation on umbilical cord stem cells, it is 
important we differentiate between the effects of these two bills.
  I support both of them. But one is not a substitute for the other. 
The Castle/DeGette bill will expand research on embryonic stem cells, 
which would have the ability to reproduce indefinitely and to evolve 
into any cell type in the body.
  It is this element of embryonic cell research that offers the most 
hope for finding cures to the diverse set of diseases that plague too 
many Americans. We cannot take away that hope by shutting the door on 
Federal research on embryonic stem cells. The President's policy shut 
that door, and we have lost 4 years of robust research that will be 
needed to cure the most complex diseases.
  Opponents of this bill will say that the embryonic cell research is 
unproven, but we will never know the true promise of embryonic stem 
cells if we hold back Federal dollars for the research. If embryonic 
stem cell research gets us even one step closer to curing Parkinson's, 
spinal cord injury and Alzheimer's, it is worth every penny. Just ask 
Michael J. Fox, Dana Reeves or Nancy Reagan.
  These tremendous people, as well as countless more in each of our 
communities, know what it is like to live every day waiting for your 
cure. Slamming the door on stem cell research slams the door in their 
faces.
  We talk about using our values to pass legislation to help people. 
Both these bills are important to helping people with such terrible 
illnesses.
  This last Saturday I helped my wife's mom move into a nursing home. 
She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the mid-1990s. We have watched 
the progression of that terrible disease. Nothing can help my mother-
in-law. But by voting today for both these bills, we can help maybe the 
next generation, instead of sticking our heads in the sand.
  I urge my colleagues to do the right thing for the millions of 
Americans suffering from incurable diseases. Pass both the Castle/
DeGette bill and the Smith legislation and keep the hope for embryonic 
cell and cord blood research alive.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished Majority Leader of the great State of Texas (Mr. DeLay), 
Fort Bend County, Sugarland.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, the issue of human cloning and embryonic stem 
cell research cuts to the very core of politics. And today the House 
will hear passionate arguments, essentially about the nature and value 
of human life.
  Now, that debate will be, among other things, controversial, because 
the proponents of embryo destruction in the name of progress believe it 
is not the embryo destruction its opponents oppose, but rather progress 
itself. But it is not so, and the bill before us now, the Stem Cell 
Therapeutic and Research Act proves it.

[[Page 10995]]

  This bill, which provides for Federal funding of research using adult 
stem cells which have, unlike embryonic stem cells, proven medical 
benefits in treating more than 60 separate diseases, will pass with the 
overwhelming support of both sides of this debate.
  Now, this bill, sponsored by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) will, for the first time, provide for taxpayer-funded research 
on well-developed stem cells from umbilical cords, expand Federal 
funding in bone marrow stem cell research, and provide for the 
development of a national stem cell therapy database for medical 
practitioners and researchers.
  This is what progress is, Mr. Speaker, concrete, definable and based 
on fact, rather than speculation or a false sense of hope.
  The best one can say about embryonic stem cell research is that it is 
a scientific exploration into the potential benefits of killing human 
beings. Proponents of medical research on destroyed human embryos would 
justify admittedly unfortunate means with the potential ends of medical 
breakthroughs down the line.
  But the deliberate destruction of unique, living self-integrated 
human persons is not some incidental tangent of embryonic stem cell 
research. It is the essence of the experiment. Kill some in hopes of 
saving others.
  The choice, however well intentioned, is predicated upon a 
utilitarian view of human life that this bill shows our government need 
not take. The Smith bill will fund the only kind of stem cell research 
that has ever proven medically beneficial, while helping to develop new 
and exciting avenues of inquiry, all without harming a single human 
embryo.
  This bill is progress, Mr. Speaker, and represents a perfect contrast 
to speculative and harmful methods of embryonic stem cell research. 
This is the right stem cell bill, Mr. Speaker.
  Progress, even progress that pushes the envelope of medical 
knowledge, need not be controversial. It need not divide us or force 
people of goodwill to devalue human life. Progress, in fact, is the 
opposite of such a choice. And the Smith bill unites the public and 
private sectors, both doctors and patients, and recognizes the inherent 
dignity and value of every human person.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick).
  Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I am a strong supporter of 
stem cell research. It saves lives, it prolongs life, and it helps 
unhealthy people remain existent on this earth.
  I am a diabetic myself, and for the last decade I have been working 
with stem cell research in my own district. The Karmanos Cancer 
Institute, world renowned in our community and in Michigan, and part of 
the former Detroit Medical Center, is a leader in research.
  This bill deals with cord research, umbilical cord research, not 
controversial. Medical professionals and others support umbilical cord 
research.

                              {time}  1315

  Umbilical cord research is the cord that is separated after a woman 
delivers her child. In many instances, 90 percent of the time, those 
cords are displaced and thrown away. What this bill will help us do is 
first of all gather those cords across America to save lives, to renew 
organs, and to continue life as we know it.
  So I rise in support of H.R. 2520 as another means for us to prolong 
life, to give life, from stem cords, umbilical cords of women that are 
heretofore thrown out.
  In our community, we are educating women and asking for their 
permission that medical research is able to use the cords, the 
umbilical cords of the fetus. It is new, it is exciting, and it is 
happening all over the world. Our country is first in medical science; 
and this act that we are taking today will continue research and 
development, healthier lives and longer lives.
  Support H.R. 2520 and let us bring America up so that we can save 
lives, prolong lives, and build a real strong America.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the ``Stem Cell Therapeutic and 
Research Act''.
  This bill creates a new federal program to collect and store 
umbilical cord blood stem cells and reauthorize and expands the current 
bone marrow registry program.
  Umbilical cord blood units, typically discarded at hospitals, can be 
an unlimited source of stem cells with representation of all races and 
ethnicities.
  According to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), African-
Americans have only a 30 percent chance of finding a stem cell match 
within their own families and often require healthy stem cells from an 
unrelated individual, typically another African American. Of the NMDP's 
registry of donors, only 8 percent are from African-Americans.
  I support the use of embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells and cord 
blood research to find cures. I urge all of my colleagues to support 
this bill and H.R. 810 ``Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act'' 
introduced by Representatives Mike Castle and Diana DeGette that would 
lift Bush's 2001 ban on the use of federal dollars for research using 
any mew embryonic stem cell lines.
  All avenues of stem cell research need to be explored. The current 
embryonic stem cell policy must be changed.
  We can no longer tie the hands of our scientists and researchers when 
millions of lives are at stake.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Price).
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding 
me time. I want to congratulate the chairman and the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) for their 
leadership.
  What we are doing with this legislation is that we are celebrating 
life and we are celebrating science. Our debate today and this bill, 
this bill is so very important because it is not often that politicians 
get it right when dealing with health care or science. I know. As a 
physician I have seen government inject itself in places it ought not 
go and spend countless dollars on fanciful and distorted claims. 
However, H.R. 2520 will save lives and improve the quality of life for 
millions. And I know this because it will increase the use of a science 
that has already been proven.
  As a new Member of Congress, I am proud to stand before you and lend 
my support to a positive and productive piece of legislation that will 
bring sunlight to those who have experienced too many clouds, and it 
will do so in an unquestionable and ethical manner.
  I commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) for 
their persistence, their cooperation, and their leadership.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my voice to the 
stem cell research debate. As a co-sponsor of H.R. 810, I hope we can 
expand our scope and benefit of existing stem cell lines. H.R. 810 
represents another step forward in our battle against diseases and 
illnesses which we have spent billions of dollars trying to research, 
treat, and cure.
  As the premier medical research Nation, we must allow our researchers 
and doctors to remain at the top of their fields of research both 
internationally and nationally. We must support our research 
institutions as they embark on the ethical, expert and very, very 
necessary trials.
  Federal research restricts federal funding of stem cell research to 
the 78 stem cell lines that existed prior to Aug. 9, 2001. Mr. Speaker, 
H.R. 810 does not usher us into uncharted waters: we are already 
engaged in both the federal funding and the federal oversight of this 
research. If we see the benefit to permitting research on 78, then the 
argument is not embryonic research--but rather numbers.
  I come from a district where we have perhaps the leading medical 
research institutions. In my district Case Western Reserve University, 
the Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospital have embarked on a 
monumental and groundbreaking project to establish the National Center 
for Regenerative Medicine. Within the walls of these three institutions 
lie perhaps some of the most advanced and prolific members of the 
scientific research community on regenerative medicine.

[[Page 10996]]

  While this research is basically focused on adult stem cell and 
umbilical cord research, we must continue to move forward with research 
in a responsible, compassionate, and humane way. We must support the 
efforts of the National Institutes of Health as we move forward.
  I support the movement towards the treatment, research, and cure of 
diseases and illnesses which the use of stem cells can alleviate.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Pence), the distinguished leader of the Republican 
Study Committee.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I 
commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his visionary 
legislation, the Stem Cell Research Act.
  There is such enormous promise, Mr. Speaker, in adult stem cell 
research, the ethical research that has been under way for decades and 
has produced to date treatments to nearly 67 diseases including sickle 
cell, leukemia, osteoporosis, just to name a few.
  Even last October, a Korean woman who had been paralyzed for 19 years 
took a few steps for reporters in Seoul with the aid of a walker and 
ethical adult cord blood stem cells injected into her spine.
  I just spoke today to a young man in my congressional district who 
was injured last Saturday night and now faces a lifetime in a 
wheelchair. I can tell you, having spoken to his parents, I would do 
anything to help that brave young man out of that chair. I would do 
anything except fund the destruction of human embryos for research.
  President Kennedy said: ``To lead is to choose'' and today Congress 
will choose and should choose to promote ethical healing by adopting 
the Stem Cell Research Act, to prevent the erosion of the principle 
that all human life, even embryonic human life, is sacred.
  Say ``yes'' to ethical adult stem cell research and ``no'' to funding 
the destruction of human embryos for scientific advancement.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, how many speakers does the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Barton) have remaining and, Mr. Speaker, who has the 
right to close?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Flake). The gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Barton) has the right to close.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have three willing speakers now 
and more on the way.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts), a member of the committee.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of adult stem cell research, 
characterized by the gentleman from New Jersey's (Mr. Smith) bill, and 
oppose H.R. 810, the Castle legislation, that would propose Federal 
dollars for destroying human embryos for embryonic stem cell research.
  I can illustrate the difference with these two binders. In this one 
binder there are 67 successful treatments using adult stem cells, and 
stem cells from cord blood, adult stem cells for treatment of diseases. 
They are all categorized here by diseases, successful treatments. From 
embryonic stem cell research: zero.
  The simple fact of the matter is with the use of embryonic stem cells 
the only thing that you have today are dead embryos and dead laboratory 
rats with tumors. They have not worked. They do not work. With adult 
stem cells you have live patients with treatments. This is the ethical 
way to go. This is what we should support.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we wonder, as most medical scientists wonder, why not 
both kinds of research. We in no way want to restrict it to just one or 
the other like my friends on the other side of the aisle.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Delaware (Mr. Castle), the distinguished Congressman and former 
Governor of the first State of our Union.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2520, which 
establishes a national cord blood stem cell inventory, a cord blood 
system, and to reauthorize the National Bone Marrow Registry.
  This is an important piece of legislation because it addresses a 
vital need to establish a publicly coordinated national umbilical cord 
blood bank similar to the National Bone Marrow Registry. However, it is 
important to note that umbilical cord blood cells are a type of adult 
stem cells that have been used only to treat blood disorders like 
leukemia and lymphoma.
  Scientists do not believe that these cord blood stem cells will 
provide answers to diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, spinal cord 
injuries, or other nonblood-related disorders.
  According to Dr. David Shaywitz, an endocrinologist and stem cell 
researcher at Harvard, it seems extremely unlikely that adult blood 
cells or blood cells from the umbilical cord will be therapeutically 
useful as a source of anything else but blood. That is why we must 
support all forms of stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell 
research, so researchers have the greatest chance of discovering 
treatments and cures. That is why I am supporting this legislation as 
well as H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, to expand the 
current Federal embryonic stem cell policy.
  I urge everyone to support this legislation and support H.R. 810.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman 
from Pennsylvania (Ms. Hart).
  Ms. HART. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation to help 
us have continued success in the funding for research for uses for 
adult stem cells.
  Adult stem cells really encompass a number of different kinds. People 
have talked today about cord blood. They have talked about the bone 
marrow stem cells. A number of them have already been used clinically 
and with much success.
  I believe it is this Congress's duty to help support that, because 
certainly we will have many people who have benefited already and 
additional people in the future who can benefit from this kind of 
research. In fact, the University of Pittsburgh in my hometown just 
announced about a week or so ago that they are doing clinical trials 
regarding the use of bone marrow stem cells to help reverse chronic 
heart failure.
  I met a gentleman actually who was involved in the research, and they 
talked about trials that have already been done in South America that 
have been successful. These are all with adult stem cells. It is 
important for Congress to fund research, but it is especially important 
for this Congress to fund responsible research and that is the research 
supported on this bill on adult stem cells.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) has 4-
\1/2\ minutes. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) has 4 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have two remaining speakers.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have one speaker remaining, and I 
will close.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to set the record 
straight.
  There have been some people who have implied there is limited 
capacity for these cord blood stems to be used successfully. They have 
been shown to be pluripotent. They can become all different cell types, 
and they have shown a tremendous amount of plasticity.
  This poster is of a young lady who was paralyzed for years and had an 
adult stem cell transplant. She is able to stand up.
  But I just want to clarify on the cord blood, it has been used to 
treat leukemia, adrenoleukodystrophy, Burkitt's lymphoma, chronic 
granulomatous diseases, congenital neutropenia,

[[Page 10997]]

DiGeorge's syndrome, Fanconi's anemia, and these are just some of them, 
Gaucher's disease. Hodgkin's disease, cord blood has been used 
successfully to treat Hodgkin's disease; idiopathic thrombocytopenic 
purpura, which is a really bad disease. I used to see some of those. 
Krabbe's disease I mentioned earlier, that was just in the New England 
Journal this month. Lymphoma; lymphoproliferative syndrome; 
myelofibrosis; neuroblastoma, which is a form of brain tumor which has 
been successfully treated with cord blood. Osteopetrosis has been 
successfully treated. Reticular dysgenesis, severe aplastic anemia.
  The list goes on and on. There are 65 different medical conditions 
that have been successfully treated with cord blood.
  People have mentioned diabetes. Embryonic stem cells have not been 
successfully used to treat diabetes either, but actually in animal 
models adult stem cells have been used successfully to treat diabetes. 
I think most of the hope and success is in this cord blood. That is why 
this bill is very, very important.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1-\1/4\ minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share the words from the President who 
seems to have sent a different message than my friends on the other 
side of the aisle.
  President Bush said, ``Most scientists believe that research on 
embryonic stem cells offers the most promise because these cells have 
the potential to develop in all of the tissues in the body.''
  I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle argue that we really 
only need cord blood stem cell research, that that will lead us to all 
that we need.

                              {time}  1330

  And the President said about that, that ``No adult stem cell has been 
shown in culture to be pluripotent.'' And he said, ``Embryonic stem 
cells have the potential to develop into all or nearly all of the 
tissues in the body.''
  I then hear my friends on the other side of the aisle talk about 
research, that this is going to lead to so much more research. Yet at 
the same time we have seen no increase, flat-lined spending, budgeting 
on the National Institutes of Health, something that many of us, the 
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) and many of the rest of us, 
have thought we should increase spending on, medical research all 
across the board in all kinds of medical research.
  Yes, in order to make room for the President's tax cuts that have 
gone overwhelmingly to the wealthiest in our country, we have simply 
cut medical research and not done what we should as a Nation do overall 
in medical research.
  So when I hear my friends talk on this, I do not quite get how this 
will expand medical research while closing out one whole avenue of 
medical research and, at the same time, cutting spending on what we 
should be doing to move our country ahead.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentleman from the Keystone State of Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this is a difficult issue 
for me. I am a diabetic. I have diabetes in my family. I am cochairman 
of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus. My wife is a full-time diabetes 
educator. She has spent her entire time as a health care professional 
educating and working with diabetics.
  The gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Langevin) are very good friends of mine. I have 
studied all their information. I have tried to be as open about this as 
I possibly can be. But I can say, Mr. Speaker, that in the end it comes 
down to not eliminating any type of research, because that is allowable 
in this country; it is whether or not we should use Federal funds. 
California is using some $3 billion right now on what this bill is 
attempting to deal with.
  In the end, Mr. Speaker, this is a very personal decision. It is one 
that I agonized over. I am not a medical professional. I consulted with 
all four of my friends who are medical doctors in this Chamber. They 
have studied medicine, they understand medical research, they 
understand bioethics far better than I ever will, and I come down on 
their side. I come down on the side of life.
  I will oppose the bill that is being offered by my friend, the 
gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) and my friend, the gentlewoman 
from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) and I will support the alternative that is 
being offered by this conference.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to 
the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the sponsor of this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Forbes). The gentleman from Ohio has 
3\1/4\ minutes remaining.
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I do not know why this debate has to be 
either/or, either we are going to cure sickle cell anemia or we have 
the potential to cure Type 1 diabetes. Every single American who 
suffers from a terrible disease should have the right to a cure.
  Now, this bill that we are debating right now, it is a fine bill. I 
support this bill. I think cord blood research is important. Like adult 
stem cells, umbilical cord stem cells have proven to be a source of 
hematopoietic stem cells. Those are the ones that are the blood-forming 
stem cells that have been used for about a decade to treat blood 
diseases like leukemia and lymphoma. That is great.
  But it is not either that or H.R. 810, because unlike human embryonic 
stem cells, stem cells from umbilical cord blood cannot continually 
reproduce themselves. Instead of proliferating, they quickly evolve 
into specialized cells. That is why they have not proven to be useful 
in some of the early studies.
  Now, the opponents of H.R. 810 say, well, embryonic stem cells have 
not been used to cure any disease. That is because we are in the very 
promising early stages of that research. And the adult stem cells have 
been used in their narrow milieu to cure diseases and to help with 
diseases that are blood specific.
  Mr. Speaker, I am here to say that there is no, no scientific 
evidence today that will show that the cord blood or the adult stem 
cells will cure Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Type 1 diabetes, or the 
multitude of other diseases that are not blood based.
  Now, some of the opponents of H.R. 810 say, well, scientific studies 
have shown adult stem cells to be pluripotent. Number one, their 
argument, their argument is that embryonic stem cells have not shown 
clinical application. Guess what? Neither have adult stem cells been 
shown clinically to be pluripotent. Furthermore, the studies where 
there were some indications of that were not peer reviewed and, 
frankly, are rejected by the scientific community.
  Here is a chart. This chart shows exactly what embryonic and adult 
stem cells are good for and, frankly, they are good for different 
things. So let us not muddle the science. If people do not want to do 
embryonic stem cell research, they can look in the eye of our 
colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Langevin) and others 
and say to them, we do not want to do the research that could cure your 
disease, and I challenge them to do that.
  In conclusion, Curt Civin, M.D., who is a doctor at Johns Hopkins 
University School of Medicine and a researcher, says ``As a physician-
scientist who has done research involving umbilical cord stem cells for 
over 20 years, I am frequently surprised by the thought from 
nonscientists that core blood stem cells may provide an alternative to 
embryonic stem cells for research. This is simply wrong.''
  And it is wrong to say either/or. That is why we should vote ``yes'' 
on this bill and H.R. 810.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 1 minute remaining.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time, and I want to thank the majority leader and the Speaker for 
bringing these two bills to the floor today.

[[Page 10998]]

  The first vote we will have is on the cord blood and bone marrow 
bill, H.R. 2520. This bill, by itself, is an extremely important 
advance for those of us that believe you can use medical research 
ethically to help find cures for existing disease and enhance human 
life both now and in the future.
  I am, obviously, as one of the original sponsors of the bill, going 
to vote for it and encourage all the Members on both sides of the aisle 
to vote for its. It is a good piece of legislation and, by itself, is a 
major advancement in the state of the art that we have today.
  The next debate that we will have is on the Castle-DeGette bill which 
is another form of stem cell research, embryonic stem cell. That issue 
is much more controversial, but on its own merit that bill itself 
deserves a serious debate. And while it is not yet time to debate that 
bill, at that time I will announce that I will vote for that bill also.
  So I hope we can do first things first. Let us pass in a strong 
bipartisan fashion the Smith-Barton-Young adult cord blood bone marrow 
bill, and then go on to the next issue.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for the Stem 
Cell Therapeutics and Research Act of 2005. As many of my colleagues 
have discussed, this bill provides federal support to help cord blood 
banks collect and maintain new cord blood units. It's important to 
acknowledge that this bill also reaffirms Congress's commitment to the 
National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
  Established in 1986, the National Registry has facilitated more than 
21,000 lifesaving transplants involving cord blood, peripheral blood, 
and bone marrow. Although we are discussing cord blood for the first 
time today, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), which has 
operated the National Registry since its inception, has already 
incorporated cord blood into the registry to help patients, especially 
minority patients whose genetic diversity often makes it difficult to 
find a suitably matched adult volunteer donor. Through the NMDP today, 
individuals in need of a cord blood transplant already have access to 
the largest listing of cord blood units in the United States--more than 
42,000 units. In addition, the NMDP lists more than 9 million adult 
volunteer donors. Today, we celebrate the National Registry's success 
by acknowledging its expanded role in the research and development of 
new sources of hematopoietic cells for transplant by renaming it the CW 
Bill Young Cell Therapies Program.
  I am particularly proud of the work of the NMDP, especially its 
strong support for cord blood and because of its partnership with the 
St. Louis Cord Blood Bank. The St. Louis Cord Blood Bank is the 
cornerstone of an active clinical stem cell transplantation and 
research program at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and St. Louis 
University.
  Along with the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank, the NMDP partners with 14 
of the 20 U.S. public cord blood banks. Another 3 are in the process of 
becoming partners. Together, the NMDP and these cord blood banks are 
working to increase the national inventory of cord blood available for 
transplants and research. Their work helps thousands of Americans with 
life-threatening diseases, such as sickle cell anemia.
  It is essential that the existing integrated program continue to be 
able to operate as it does today. Physicians and patients must be able 
to search for and obtain support from a single national registry that 
includes cord blood, peripheral blood, and bone marrow. Physicians 
should not have to waste time searching multiple cord blood banks and 
adult donor registries or having to coordinate the further testing and 
delivery of units.
  Searching is not the only function that must be integrated. 
Physicians need to be confident that the results of their searches 
allow them to truly compare cord blood units and adult donor 
information. Thus, the cord blood community should work with the 
National Program to establish criteria and standards to ensure 
consistency of the information that is part of the registry. Finally, 
it is important that all patients, not just those who receive a bone 
marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplants, receive the patient 
advocacy and educational services that the NMDP provides to all the 
patients it assists.
  The NMDP already provides physicians and their patients with this 
type of support. This bill is a step in the right direction because it 
builds upon the existing registry. We must be careful not to waste 
scarce federal dollars by duplicating what is already working well. 
Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2520, which 
provides for an integrated National Program.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
2520, which combines legislation I introduced and passed in the 108th 
Congress to reauthorize the National Bone Marrow Registry with 
legislation by my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Smith to authorize a 
federal investment in building an inventory of 150,000 umbilical cord 
blood units. This life-saving bill is good for patients, good for 
transplant doctors, good for researchers and it represents good policy 
for our Nation.
  I would like to take this opportunity to thank many colleagues for 
bringing this legislation to the floor. Let me thank the Chairman of 
the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Barton for providing the 
leadership to advance this important bill. His commitment to providing 
sound national policy in this area of stem cell transplantation has 
produced an excellent legislative design that will benefit thousands of 
patients immediately upon enactment. I would also like to thank my 
friend, Mr. Smith of New Jersey for his leadership in the area of 
umbilical cord blood--an area of rapidly developing science and 
opportunity. His legislation from the previous Congress has provided 
the framework for enhancing our Nation's ability to provide cord blood 
units to help save lives. His vision on the potential of cord blood has 
helped make this bill possible today and I thank him for his 
dedication.
  This legislation builds on the investment made by Congress 18 years 
ago when we established a national bone marrow donor program to save 
the lives of patients with leukemia and many other blood disorders. 
Countless dedicated doctors, patients, families, and research 
scientists have continued to pioneer new approaches to saving lives 
using these blood stem cells from bone marrow and now umbilical cord 
blood cells.
  This bill authorizes funding for 5 years to continue federal support 
for bone marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood 
transplantation and research. With this legislation, transplant doctors 
and patients will have an enhanced, single point of electronic access 
to the full array of information on possible bone marrow matches, as 
well as matches with cord blood units from the new national inventory 
which would be created. In a matter of minutes, physicians can review 
the options and reserve the best possible sources for their patients. 
In addition, the new effort will facilitate accreditation of cord blood 
banks, stimulate research, and collect and share data on the outcomes 
of all transplants.
  Last month, at the request of our Appropriations Committee direction, 
the Institute of Medicine released its report on cord blood and how the 
inventory should be built and integrated into the existing national 
registry. This bill before us has been shaped by the guidance provided 
through the IOM process and during the past year-and-a-half a consensus 
has been building for moving forward to combine our activities in bone 
marrow and cord blood. That consensus has formed the basis for this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, this literally is life saving legislation. Through the 
efforts of the National Marrow Donor Program--which this Congress 
initiated in 1987--many lives have already been saved. To date, the 
Program has facilitated almost 21,000 unrelated transplants involving 
bone marrow, cord blood or peripheral blood. That means 21,000 
individuals--both children and adults who are otherwise suffering from 
terminal disease--received the gift of life through this national 
program.
  When the program first started, our goal was to build a national 
registry of 250,000 individuals willing to donate marrow. Mr. Speaker, 
we found that the human spirit responded to our efforts in ways that we 
could not imagine. I am proud to say that as of this month, the 
National Bone Marrow Registry has more than 5.6 million potential bone 
marrow donors signed up. In addition, the Program has an additional 
41,666 units of umbilical cord blood in reserve for transplant through 
its network of 15 affiliated cord blood banks throughout the country. 
Total transplants from all sources for last year alone exceeded 2500.
  Let me repeat--we have 5.6 million volunteer bone marrow donors 
signed up in the national program. These are true volunteers in every 
sense of the word. They have given of their time to take a simple blood 
test to be listed in the national registry. For more than 20,000 who 
have been called upon to donate bone marrow, they have undergone a 
relatively simple surgical procedure to donate their bone marrow to 
save the life of a man, woman or child with anyone of more than 85 
different diseases. Another 41,000 women have donated umbilical cord 
blood which can be used in the same way as bone marrow, to transplant 
life giving cells to cure disease.
  This legislation will provide the funding to greatly increase the 
number of cord blood

[[Page 10999]]

units that can be collected and stored. Nineteen million dollars has 
already been appropriated for this purpose over the past two years and 
this legislation will allow that immediate infusion of funds into 
building up reserves of umbilical cord blood. The scientific reason for 
this is clear. Thanks to research, cord blood has now become another 
very important source for obtaining and transplanting the particular 
cell found in bone marrow and peripheral blood that can restore health 
to those suffering from so many different diseases. In addition, by 
building up the cord blood inventory, the overall resource will be much 
more likely to meet the needs of patients from genetically diverse, 
ethnic populations. It is estimated that adding 150,000 new cord blood 
units to the number of existing bone marrow donors will provide 
potential cell matches for about 95 percent of all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, this national effort is a true modern miracle and this 
new legislation will reinforce and strengthen the program. Today, our 
National Bone Marrow Program is affiliated with 156 transplant centers, 
82 donor centers, 15 cord blood banks, 102 transplant marrow collection 
centers and 82 Apheresis centers. Of these, 72 are international 
facilities.
  Having had the great pleasure to meet with hundreds of donors and 
patients, I can tell you that donating bone marrow or cord blood can be 
a true life-changing experience. The experience of giving life to 
another human being is beyond mere words.
  Mr. Speaker, there are many people who have been heroes in this 
effort and need to be recognized for their contributions. The first is 
a little 10 year old girl who died of leukemia at All Children's 
Hospital in my home district of St. Petersburg 18 years ago. Brandy Bly 
might have been saved from leukemia back in 1987 if matched bone marrow 
or cord blood cells had been available. It was during her treatment 
that I first learned from doctors how difficult it is to find a 
compatible, unrelated bone marrow donor. Her death inspired me, and her 
doctor--Dr. Jerry Barbosa--inspired me to help find a way to build a 
national bone marrow program. There were other early medical pioneers, 
like the late Dr. Robert Goode, Dr. John Hansen and Dr. Donnell 
Thomas--all who helped perfect the science of marrow transplantation 
and who assisted us in our legislative quest to establish a federal 
registry. In the early days, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr. and Dr. Bob 
Graves helped find a federal home for the effort. And I must recognize 
Navy Captain Bob Hartzman who first connected us with the Navy Medical 
Command to give birth to the early program. Dr. Hartzman continues to 
direct the military program and is an invaluable scientific leader and 
advisor.
  There have been many members of Congress, past and present, who have 
stood together with me over the years to develop and fund the program 
that we reauthorize and enhance today. I thank each and every one for 
your dedication.
  We must recognize the staff and members of the board of the National 
Marrow Donor Program and the Marrow Foundation who have volunteered 
their time to establish and grow a finely tuned international registry 
program. And we must recognize the dedicated doctors and medical teams 
at transplant and donor centers around the nation who use their medical 
expertise to perform the transplants and save lives. Dr. Joanne 
Kurtzberg, the head transplant doctor at Duke University's blood bank 
center, is the epitome of a dedicated, caring and highly knowledgeable 
physician who works hard to save lives. We must recognize the 
pioneering cord blood research of Dr. Pablo Rubenstein and Dr. Cladd 
Stevens at the New York Blood Center, and Dr. Claude Lenfant, the 
former director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH 
who initiated the major COBLT study on cord blood banking and 
transplantation.
  The ultimate true heroes of the national effort are the patients and 
donors. Every patient who has sought a marrow or cord blood transplant 
has helped in the overall effort to gain more scientific knowledge on 
perfecting the transplant process. Every patient helps all those who 
will follow. And every donor who has rolled up his or her sleeve to 
sign up for the national bone marrow program, or every family that has 
decided to donate umbilical cord blood, are heroes for taking part in 
giving the ultimate gift of life.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing let me again thank Chairman Barton and Mr. 
Smith for their leadership in enhancing this great national program. 
Let me thank every member of this House for their support for the 
efforts we started 18 years ago on behalf of patients everywhere. With 
your support, we will provide hope--and a second chance at life--to 
thousands of patients today and into the future.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, the issue of government funding of embryonic 
stem cell research is one of the most divisive issues facing the 
country. While I sympathize with those who see embryonic stem cell 
research as providing a path to a cure for the dreadful diseases that 
have stricken so many Americans, I strongly object to forcing those 
Americans who believe embryonic stem cell research is immoral to 
subsidize such research with their tax dollars.
  The main question that should concern Congress today is does the 
United States Government have the constitutional authority to fund any 
form of stem cell research. The clear answer to that question is no. A 
proper constitutional position would reject federal funding for stem 
cell research, while allowing the individual states and private 
citizens to decide whether to permit, ban, or fund this research. 
Therefore, I will vote against H.R. 810.
  Unfortunately, many opponents of embryonic stem cell research are 
disregarding the Constitution by supporting H.R. 2520, an 
``acceptable'' alternative that funds umbilical-cord stem cell 
research. While this approach is much less objectionable than funding 
embryonic stem cell research, it is still unconstitutional. Therefore, 
I must also oppose H.R. 2520.
  Federal funding of medical research guarantees the politicization of 
decisions about what types of research for what diseases will be 
funded. Thus, scarce resources will be allocated according to who has 
the most effective lobby rather than allocated on the basis of need or 
even likely success. Federal funding will also cause researchers to 
neglect potential treatments and cures that do not qualify for federal 
funds. Ironically, an example of this process may be found in H.R. 
2520; some research indicates that adult stem cells may be as useful or 
more useful to medical science than either embryonic or umbilical cord 
stem cells. In fact, the supporters of embryonic stem cell research may 
have a point when they question the effectiveness of umbilical cord 
stem cells for medical purposes. Yet, if H.R. 2520 becomes law, 
researchers will have an incentive to turn away from adult stem cell 
research in order to receive federal funds for umbilical cord stem cell 
research!
  Mr. Speaker, there is no question that H.R. 810 violates basic 
constitutional principles by forcing taxpayers to subsidize embryonic 
stem cell research. However, H.R. 2520 also exceeds Congress's 
constitutional authority and may even retard effective adult stem cell 
research. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote against both H.R. 810 
and H.R. 2520.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2520, an 
act that will provide for a nationwide umbilical stem cell 
transplantation system. Not only does the implementation of such a 
system pave the way for numerous potentially life saving medical 
advances, but it builds on an area of study that has a demonstrated 
track record of success. Additionally, this legislation reauthorizes 
the national bone marrow transplant system, which has been a great 
success.
  The Twenty-First Century witnessed many great scientific achievements 
and medical advances. These advances have helped to cure or mitigate 
against a number of formerly terminal conditions and diseases. One can 
only imagine the possibilities that modern technology and modern 
research offer, which will yield even greater achievements in the near 
and distant future. However, we must also be cognizant of ethical 
standards to ensure that new technology does not compete with the moral 
standards of our society. H.R. 2520 is a good start.
  Studies have demonstrated that stem cells found in umbilical cords 
may be used to regenerate human nerve, blood, cartilage, skin and 
muscle cells. Research also demonstrates that conditions such as 
leukemia and sickle cell disease could be cured by more advanced 
umbilical cord stem cell research. Cord blood cells are already being 
used to treat over 67 diseases. We need to support this research, and 
creating a nationwide umbilical stem cell transplantation system is an 
important first step to providing scientists with the resources they 
need to make advances in this field of study. This database can also be 
used to allow potential donors to patients in need of various types of 
transplants.
  H.R. 2520 provides a vehicle for promoting and enhancing promising 
scientific research in the field of umbilical stem cell 
transplantation. It certainly meets the highest standards of bioethics 
and has a track record of scientific evidence suggesting that investing 
taxpayer resources to promote this field of study will result in 
positive dividends for the health of our communities. I strongly 
support H.R. 2520, and I encourage my colleagues to vote yes for this 
important legislation.
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2520, the Stem 
Cell Therapeutic

[[Page 11000]]

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.
  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I recently joined with nearly all members 
of this body in voting for H.R. 2520, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and 
Research Act.
  This important piece of public health legislation will help increase 
awareness of the possibility of using cord blood to improve access to 
blood-forming stem cell transplants and research.
  I also want to take a moment to bring attention to another aspect of 
this bill, the reauthorization of the National Bone Marrow Registry.
  Since its inception in 1986, the Registry has enjoyed strong 
bipartisan support and has been committed to helping people who need a 
lifesaving marrow or blood cell transplant.
  The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has successfully operated 
the National Bone Marrow Registry through a competitive contract 
renewed every 5 years.
  The NMDP maintains the largest listing of volunteer donors and cord 
blood units in the world, supports patients and their doctors 
throughout the transplant process and matches patients with the best 
marrow donor or cord blood unit.
  This past November, the NMDP celebrated an important milestone when 
it facilitated its 20,000th transplant.
  The NMDP has worked diligently to increase the diversity of the 
National Bone Marrow Registry so that all Americans have access to 
lifesaving blood-forming stem cell transplants by increasing donations 
from racial and ethnic minorities and incorporating umbilical cord 
blood units as a new source of cells.
  The NMDP also provides transplant centers with the logistical support 
patients need from the moment a physician initiates a search.
  The NMDP provides expert advice on searching the National Registry, 
coordinates the testing of cord blood units and adult donors, ensures 
that the correct cells are obtained and delivered as directed by the 
physician, and assists patients with insurance, travel and other needs 
that arise as part of the transplant process.
  These programs help doctors focus on caring for their patients and 
helps patients and their families focus on what is important--getting 
well.
  I salute the NMDP for all it does to help patients, and I am pleased 
Congress was able to pass H.R. 2520.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2520.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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