Harkin Calls for Senate Action on Stem Cell Research Legislation

HARKIN CALLS FOR SENATE ACTION ON STEM CELL RESEARCH LEGISLATION

Iowa Senator Urges Majority Leader Frist to Give H.R. 810 a Vote in the Senate

WASHINGTON, DC -Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today called on Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to live up to his promises and bring stem cell research legislation up for consideration in the Senate. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of H.R .810, The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. Despite bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate, the bill has never been allowed to come to the floor for a vote.

"Majority Leader Frist needs to stop playing politics with embryonic stem cell research," said Harkin. "His refusal to schedule a vote on H.R. 810 is not just another run-of-the-mill case of legislative maneuvering. For millions of Americans battling disease and paralysis, it is a kind of abandonment and betrayal."

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R.810) is designed to expand the current federal funding policy for stem cell research. The legislation would allow federal funding for stem cell research using stem cell lines derived under strict ethical requirements from excess in vitro fertilization embryos, regardless of the date they were derived. A recent poll conducted by CAMR recently found that 70 percent of respondents support giving H.R. 810 a vote in the Senate and 72 percent support embryonic stem cell research.

"We need this critical research to help us improve our ability to treat and cure diseases like Parkinson's, and ALS. Children are suffering from juvenile diabetes and people are unable to walk due to spinal cord injures," said Harkin. "These people can't wait another year. They need hope now."

http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=256054