[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16590-16591]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           VETO OF STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.

[[Page 16591]]


  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the veto 
message on S. 5 be considered as having been read and that it be 
printed in the Record and spread in full upon the Journal. I further 
ask unanimous consent that the message be held at the desk.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The veto message of the President is printed in today's Record under 
``Presidential Messages.'')
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, let me briefly say I have had a conversation 
with the distinguished Republican leader and this will be brought up at 
a later time. We will fully consult with the distinguished Republican 
leader, and we will do it at a time that is more appropriate than 
today.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, in 6\1/2\ years in office, President Bush 
has picked up his veto pen only two times. Today he adds a third; and 
once more, he is standing against hope for thousands of Americans 
afflicted with deadly diseases. His veto of the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act is a grave moral error.
  Embryonic stem cell research may one day provide relief to more than 
100 million Americans suffering from Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal cord 
injury, Lou Gehrig's disease, cancer, and many other devastating 
conditions for which there is still no cure. Today, Federal funds are 
only allowed for work on 21 stem cell lines that existed as of August 
9, 2001, all of which are contaminated. Scientists understand that 
access to more stem cell lines would significantly expand the scope and 
possibility of their research. That is why the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act expanded the number of embryonic stem cell lines 
available for federally funded research by allowing the use of stem 
cells derived through embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics. Stem 
cell research turns embryos that would otherwise be discarded into the 
seeds of life-giving science.
  Of course, the decision to dedicate embryos to research is a heavy 
one. We have never argued otherwise. That is why the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act contained strict ethical requirements. Under this 
legislation, the only embryonic stem cells that can be used for 
federally funded research are those that were derived through embryos 
created for fertility treatment purposes and donated for research with 
the written, informed consent of the individuals seeking that 
treatment. Any financial or other inducements to make this donation are 
prohibited under this legislation. These ethical standards are stronger 
than current law--possibly stronger, in fact, than the standards 
attending the creation of the 21 approved lines.
  Stem cells from embryos have a unique potential to reduce human 
suffering--and for precisely that reason, embryonic stem cell research 
is supported by a strong majority of Americans. Today, President Bush 
set himself against that potential, and against that majority; he set 
himself in the way of our scientists, and our suffering patients. I 
hope that, when he has left office at last, he will come to regret his 
choice. If not, history will regret it for him.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, once-terminal diseases such as leukemia, 
aplastic anemia, cerebral palsy, and sickle-cell anemia are now 
treatable, if not curable, by using stem cells derived from bone marrow 
and umbilical cord blood. Early this year, scientists at Wake Forest 
University School of Medicine found stem cells in amniotic fluid. These 
stem cells are particularly exciting for their pluripotency--the 
characteristic that enables the stem cell to turn into multiple bodily 
tissues and thereby be useful in a variety of medical treatments.
  In the last few weeks, just as the House was engaging in a partisan 
effort to pass this bill that the President rightly vetoed, scientists 
discovered that human skin could one day be used to create limitless 
lines of stem cells that are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic 
stem cells in their characteristics. Already such newspapers as the 
Washington Post are glowing with reports about how this discovery could 
``revolutionize stem cell research and quench one of the hottest 
bioethical controversies of the decade.'' At the same time, the highly 
trumped benefits of stem cells derived from the destruction of a living 
embryo have yet to be demonstrated, despite considerable private and 
public funding.
  All members of this body share a desire to find cures or successful 
treatments for horrible illnesses. Fortunately, such an opportunity has 
been presented in the way of adult stem cells. Even with all of the 
tremendous potential that adult stem cells hold for treating serious 
medical conditions, some of my colleagues are unwilling to support 
legislation that funds the development of ethically acceptable and 
medically beneficial adult stem cell research. This body should 
recognize the fundamental differences--not just between Senators--but 
among the American people, over the appropriate use of taxpayer funding 
for stem cell research that destroys a living embryo. We may never move 
beyond this impasse, but that should not stop us from encouraging non-
controversial and highly productive medical treatments.
  While S. 5 contains provisions which are morally unacceptable to many 
people, S. 30, the ``Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem 
Cell Research Act'' or the ``HOPE Act,'' which the Senate passed, is an 
opportunity for Congress to support highly-productive adult stem cell 
research free of ethical defects. S. 30 would specifically direct the 
Department of Health and Human Services to seek alternative sources of 
stem cells and study the possibility of establishing an amniotic and 
placental stem cell bank, similar to the bone marrow and cord blood 
stem cell bank, while reaffirming a policy that prohibits research that 
destroys human life. This goes far beyond the current policy in the 
extent to which it supports adult stem cell research.
  Right now, as Senators prepare to consider an override of the 
President's veto of S. 5, there are millions of Americans suffering 
from serious illnesses who are waiting for the potential treatments 
offered by adult stem cell research. Rather than wasting precious time 
debating ethically divisive funding for stem cell research that 
destroys living embryos, the House should take up and pass S. 30. It is 
disappointing to see partisanship trump science and patients' hopes.
  I applaud the President for issuing his Executive Order today, 
implementing many, but not all, of the key provisions of S. 30. I urge 
my colleagues to reaffirm opposition to S. 5 by upholding this 
justified veto, and to think twice about trying to add S. 5 or similar 
provisions that would promote embryo-destructive research onto other 
bills, including annual appropriations bills. Such a move would justify 
the veto of that legislation as well.

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