Moran Statement on Stem Cell Research Legislation

Moran Statement on Stem Cell Research Legislation

Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, issued the following statement regarding the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 3). The bill has bipartisan support and is expected to pass today.

"Stem cell research offers great promise to cure the major diseases plaguing humanity. Scientists and researchers believe the key to unlocking the causes of Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, AIDS and other chronic illness may lie in these cells.

"The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act makes stem cells from fertilization clinics slated for destruction available to medical researchers from the National Institutes of Health. Unfortunately, President Bush walled off these discarded cells for purely ideological reasons during his first term, and has vetoed subsequent efforts to change that policy. These actions, intended to please the anti-choice lobby, deny what is perhaps the most promising medical research opportunity in human history.

"To be successful, stem cell researchers need more stem cell lines than are currently legally available. The current stem cell lines at NIH are contaminated and in short-supply. Valuable research is being delayed because of politics, not good policy.

"Support for stem cell research is a Democratic cornerstone. Passage of H.R. 3 is positive step forward for the millions of Americans waiting anxiously for a cure."

http://www.moran.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=12405