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STEM CELL LEGISLATION
Senate Scheduled to Vote on Three Stem
Cell Bills
The week before the July 4th recess, FASEB
sent letters to the Republican leadership of
the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader
Frist (R-TN), Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY),
Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), and Rick Santorum
(R-PA), adjuring them to
bring the Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act (H.R. 810), which passed the
House of Representative more than one year ago,
to a vote by the full Senate. In addition, FASEB
sent an alert to member society scientists in
Republican Senators’ districts, generating
nearly 450 letters putting pressure on Senator
Frist to bring the bill forward.
Apparently FASEB and other members of the stem
cell advocacy community were successful in
reaching the Senate leadership. Just before the
Senate broke for recess, FASEB Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-TN) surprised many when he took to
the Senate
floor to announce that the Senate will vote on
three stem-cell bills once Congress returns.
Frist’s move to bring the bills to the floor
fulfills a vow he made to Senator Specter last
year to schedule a stem cell vote in order to
clear obstacles to the L/HHS spending bill.
It was widely assumed that at least one
Republican would object to Senator Frist’s
efforts to put these bills before the Senate for
to a vote. However, in the end, even the most
vocal opponents, including Senator Tom Coburn
(R-OK) believed that the supporters of the
legislation to expand embryonic stem cell
research should get a vote on their bills.
The agreement will allow a vote on H.R. 810,
which would expand the current federal embryonic
stem cell policy and allow public funding for
research using surplus embryos from fertility
clinics. The bill will also establish federal
guidelines to ensure that
embryonic stem cell research moves forward in a
safe and ethical manner. In addition to
the House-passed bill, the Senate also will vote
on a measure sponsored by Senators
Specter and Rick Santorum (R-PA) to promote
still-theoretical stem cell research
methods that would produce stem cells without
additional embryo destruction and a bill
from Senators Santorum and Sam Brownback (R-KS)
that would prohibit the buying and
selling of tissue from fetuses created expressly
for medical research.
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CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The House and Senate return from the
Independence Day District work period on July
10th.
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