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Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007

Date: Jan. 11, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Stem Cell Research


STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 11, 2007)

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Mr. CHABOT. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research and Enhancement Act of 2007. We all support advancing science to fight disease, particularly those diseases that may have already affected our loved ones or might affect them sometime in the future.

Like so many other areas within science and technology, discoveries in stem cell research are occurring every day. Just this week, news reports highlighted a significant breakthrough made by researchers from Wake Forest University in the use of amniotic stem cells to treat diseases and other conditions. This discovery, coupled with the advances made in the therapeutic use of cord blood, bone marrow, and other stem cells, demonstrates that effective and ethical research are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, Congress came together last May to support ethical stem cell research. By an overwhelming majority, Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, which made cord blood units collected by cord blood banks available for stem cell transplantation or peer-reviewed research. Since its passage, cord blood banks from around the country have collected and stored approximately 150,000 new units of cord blood which will allow the pleuripotent stem cells within the cord blood to be used to treat one of a number of diseases and conditions such as heart disease, nerve damage, and certain cancers, as well as to be used for research.

These important advances illustrate that science can and should be advanced in an ethically minded manner. On Tuesday, the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett) reintroduced H.R. 322, the alternative Pleuripotent Stem Cell Therapeutic Enhancement Act.

I urge my colleagues to support and invest taxpayer dollars in stem cell research that is comprehensive, ethical, and effective. The bill before us today falls short of these goals, and therefore I urge opposition.

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