[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH

  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that with the vote recently 
completed, we will move toward research in embryonic stem cells.
  My home State of New Jersey asserted real national leadership on stem 
cell research. In 2005, New Jersey became the first State in the Nation 
to award public funds for research on human embryonic stem cells. But 
one State or another supporting this research is not a substitute for 
Federal support.
  Opponents of this legislation that we passed say that we should 
pursue alternative avenues for research such as adult stem cells, cord 
blood cells, amniotic fluid cells, and they are correct. We should 
investigate each one of these avenues. Yet that is not a compelling 
reason to block the researchers from pursuing embryonic stem cell 
research, which experts agree hold the greatest potential because of 
the truly broad nature of these embryonic stem cells.

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