News
Jul 13 2006
Support for stem cell research set for Senate vote
Proponents confident that bill will pass with enough support to override a veto
Washington -- The Senate will finally vote early next week on legislation allowing federal support for embryonic stem cell research, the Senate Republican leader said Wednesday, setting up a confrontation with President Bush, who has threatened to veto the bill.
Under the agreement Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee forged to allow the debate, the long-delayed bill will need 60 votes to pass the 100-member Senate. Supporters of the bill are confident they have at least that number, and won't rule out getting the 67 votes needed to override a Bush veto, which would be the first of his presidency.
Federal support for embryonic stem cell research could have a major impact in California, where the voter-approved measure of 2004 creating the $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has been held up by court challenges.
The move by Frist -- a heart surgeon who reversed course last year by embracing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research -- means the issue could figure prominently in November's congressional elections. Stem cell research divides Republicans, with such senior GOP senators as Frist, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joining almost all the Senate's Democrats in support of the measure while Bush and a majority of Republicans in the House and Senate remain opposed.
Stem cells have already emerged as a key issue in at least one swing Senate race, in Missouri, where Republican Sen. Jim Talent opposes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect the research. His Democratic rival, state auditor Claire McCaskill, supports the measure and has a slight lead in recent pre-election polls.
The Senate is scheduled Monday and Tuesday to consider the stem cell bill, which the House passed 238-194 in May 2005. The vote was far short of the 290 votes needed in the 435-member House to override a veto.
But supporters think their ranks are growing.
"In the year-plus since it passed, a number of members, including Republicans, have told me they regret their votes against the bill. Whether they will vote to override their president's veto I don't know, '' said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who with Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., co-sponsored the House-passed bill.
"It's an uphill battle, but it's a battle I'm glad to take on,'' she added.
Castle and DeGette had pressed Bush to meet with them, hoping they could persuade him not to veto their bill. But the White House rejected a meeting.
Anticipating Senate passage, the leader of one major pro-embryonic stem cell research organization said a veto isn't inevitable.
Sean Tipton, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which represents about 95 academic, scientific and patient advocacy groups, said the president's track record shows he might not block the legislation.
"This president has a history of not vetoing things that he had said he would veto,'' said Tipton.
But Bush has been emphatic that he would veto any bill that expanded his decision in the summer of 2001 to allow research using then-existing stem cell lines. The message was reiterated this week by top Bush aide Karl Rove in a speech in Denver.
In announcing his decision, Frist said, "There's tremendous promise in stem cell research, and I've worked long and hard with my colleagues to bring this serious ethical issue to the floor in a way that encourages thoughtful discussion and deliberation."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of the Senate's leading advocates for embryonic stem cell research, said she was pleased with Frist's decision but felt it was long overdue.
"We have already waited far too long for this day,'' she said, adding an appeal that Bush not veto the bill.
As part of the deal, the Senate will consider two other bills, which haven't passed the House, but that embryonic stem cell research opponents insisted on. One says that stem cell research not involving the embryonic cells would get federal funds, and the other would ban so-called fetal farming, the practice of creating embryos solely to destroy them for research.
Both are expected to pass easily. The House plans to consider a separate bill to outlaw human cloning for reproductive or research purposes.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., attacked embryonic stem cell research.
"It's a false impression based on politics and false hope,'' said Coburn, a physician who said lab work on adult or umbilical cord stem cells has so far been more promising.
Coburn and other opponents say destroying embryos, even those only a few hours or days old, to extract stem cells equals the destruction of human life.
Tipton said his group, whose members include the University of California, supports all forms of stem cell research.
"We are for scientific research. We want to let scientists do the work. This is not a decision that politicians are in any position to make,'' he said.
Under the agreement Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee forged to allow the debate, the long-delayed bill will need 60 votes to pass the 100-member Senate. Supporters of the bill are confident they have at least that number, and won't rule out getting the 67 votes needed to override a Bush veto, which would be the first of his presidency.
Federal support for embryonic stem cell research could have a major impact in California, where the voter-approved measure of 2004 creating the $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has been held up by court challenges.
The move by Frist -- a heart surgeon who reversed course last year by embracing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research -- means the issue could figure prominently in November's congressional elections. Stem cell research divides Republicans, with such senior GOP senators as Frist, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joining almost all the Senate's Democrats in support of the measure while Bush and a majority of Republicans in the House and Senate remain opposed.
Stem cells have already emerged as a key issue in at least one swing Senate race, in Missouri, where Republican Sen. Jim Talent opposes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect the research. His Democratic rival, state auditor Claire McCaskill, supports the measure and has a slight lead in recent pre-election polls.
The Senate is scheduled Monday and Tuesday to consider the stem cell bill, which the House passed 238-194 in May 2005. The vote was far short of the 290 votes needed in the 435-member House to override a veto.
But supporters think their ranks are growing.
"In the year-plus since it passed, a number of members, including Republicans, have told me they regret their votes against the bill. Whether they will vote to override their president's veto I don't know, '' said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who with Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., co-sponsored the House-passed bill.
"It's an uphill battle, but it's a battle I'm glad to take on,'' she added.
Castle and DeGette had pressed Bush to meet with them, hoping they could persuade him not to veto their bill. But the White House rejected a meeting.
Anticipating Senate passage, the leader of one major pro-embryonic stem cell research organization said a veto isn't inevitable.
Sean Tipton, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which represents about 95 academic, scientific and patient advocacy groups, said the president's track record shows he might not block the legislation.
"This president has a history of not vetoing things that he had said he would veto,'' said Tipton.
But Bush has been emphatic that he would veto any bill that expanded his decision in the summer of 2001 to allow research using then-existing stem cell lines. The message was reiterated this week by top Bush aide Karl Rove in a speech in Denver.
In announcing his decision, Frist said, "There's tremendous promise in stem cell research, and I've worked long and hard with my colleagues to bring this serious ethical issue to the floor in a way that encourages thoughtful discussion and deliberation."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of the Senate's leading advocates for embryonic stem cell research, said she was pleased with Frist's decision but felt it was long overdue.
"We have already waited far too long for this day,'' she said, adding an appeal that Bush not veto the bill.
As part of the deal, the Senate will consider two other bills, which haven't passed the House, but that embryonic stem cell research opponents insisted on. One says that stem cell research not involving the embryonic cells would get federal funds, and the other would ban so-called fetal farming, the practice of creating embryos solely to destroy them for research.
Both are expected to pass easily. The House plans to consider a separate bill to outlaw human cloning for reproductive or research purposes.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., attacked embryonic stem cell research.
"It's a false impression based on politics and false hope,'' said Coburn, a physician who said lab work on adult or umbilical cord stem cells has so far been more promising.
Coburn and other opponents say destroying embryos, even those only a few hours or days old, to extract stem cells equals the destruction of human life.
Tipton said his group, whose members include the University of California, supports all forms of stem cell research.
"We are for scientific research. We want to let scientists do the work. This is not a decision that politicians are in any position to make,'' he said.
