[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14781]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STEM CELL RESEARCH

  (Mr. CARNAHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARNAHAN. Mr. Speaker, last year this House passed the landmark 
stem cell bill, H.R. 810. We know that President Bush has already 
authorized research, even though it is arbitrary and artificially 
restricted, when he made his executive order allowing research on 
existing stem cell lines before 9 p.m. August 9, 2001, and prohibiting 
them after that date.
  We know that in 2001 it was believed 78 stem cell lines existed. But 
now we know there are only 22 that are viable, and they have been 
contaminated with mouse stem cells.
  We know that we are at a historic crossroad in Washington this week. 
We are either days away from this Congress passing this stem cell bill, 
or we are going to see delays for years. We know that this issue has 
united Americans into action across party lines. It includes over 80 
Nobel Prize scientists. It counts hundreds of disease-fighting groups 
advocating for 110 million Americans who are afflicted with a genetic 
sentence to disability or death.
  We know President Bush has signed over 1,000 bills into law. This is 
not the time to start with the Presidential roadblock of a veto.

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