Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
Floor Speech
STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - April 10, 2007)
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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Iowa.
I speak today in support of S. 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, offered by the majority leader, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for bringing this important bill to the floor. As a new Member of this body, as is the Presiding Officer, it also gives me great pride to express my appreciation for the leadership of Senator Harkin, Senator Specter, Senator Kennedy, and Senator Hatch, whose voices over the years have placed us in the position to pass this legislation, as I hope we will tomorrow.
I also wish to recognize the exceptional work and extraordinary leadership of my colleague and friend from Rhode Island, Congressman Jim Langevin. Congressman Langevin has been both a State and national leader on this issue, championing the passage of H.R. 810 in last year's Congress and of H.R. 3 in January, as well as playing an integral role in Rhode Island's stem cell dialogue. Just today he was with our Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts, as she issued her report, ``Discovering Rhode Island's Stem Cell Future: Charting the Course Toward Health and Prosperity.'' This report is an important step toward developing a comprehensive statewide plan for stem cell research initiatives in Rhode Island.
Congressman Langevin did not arrive at his position on stem cell research easily. He grappled, as we all do, with the ethical and scientific issues involved, meeting with a host of individuals and groups spanning the ideological spectrum. After serious and heartfelt consideration, he concluded, as have many of our Senate colleagues, that a central part of his deeply held beliefs about life is a commitment to those who are challenged by diabetes, by heart disease, by Alzheimer's, by Parkinson's, by spinal cord injury, by stroke, and by the myriad of diseases and conditions that stem cell research might help or even cure. I share this deep commitment to stem cell research and a sincere optimism about the hope it offers for so many lives.
I want to share the story of one of those lives. It is the story of Lila Barber, a 12-year-old girl from Westerly, RI, who came to visit me here in Washington 2 weeks ago.
In 2005, Lila started experiencing pain in her leg. The pain got progressively worse over a 5-month period, until it was keeping her, and her parents, up all night. The Barbers began a medical journey, from doctor to doctor and test to test, only to be told that Lila had bursitis. As it turned out, Lila did not have bursitis; she had osteosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor on her tibia below her knee.
Years ago, doctors would have had no option but to amputate Lila's leg. But reconstructive techniques have improved, and most limbs can now be replaced with a metal and plastic artificial joint or a cadaver bone transplant. Fortunately, Dr. Richard Terek, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in musculoskeletal oncology at Brown University, was able to save her leg using such a cadaver bone transplant, which preserves as much normal tissue as possible. In the year following Lila's surgery, she was home-schooled as she underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy. Lila's chances of long-term survival are now good--75 percent.
But even if Lila remains cancer free, she will face a painful and ongoing medical struggle. Since the donor bone and cartilage are not living, Lila's transplanted tibia will not grow as she does. Even worse, it will break down over time. This is a place where stem cell research could vastly improve care
for cancers like Lila's. In the short-term, stem cell research could allow surgeons to develop techniques to use Lila's own cells to biologically and mechanically enhance bone tissue transfer. That is, Lila's own stem cells could be used to repopulate the lost bone and cartilage. In the longer term, stem cell research might allow scientists to grow entirely new replacement bones and joints. One day, children with osteosarcoma and other bone tumors might receive new bones that actually grow with their bodies into adulthood. Such bone tissue enhancements would also be beneficial to individuals with injuries from accidents, sports injuries, or just the wear and stress of age. This is just one area of promise in the broad landscape of hope stem cell research opens to Americans.
As for Lila, with frequent monitoring from Dr. Terek, and sporting a bright bandanna on her first days back to school in the seventh grade, she is getting back to her old ways. She even attended the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards last weekend, a trip made possible by A Wish Come True, an organization in Rhode Island that grants wishes to children with life-threatening and dangerous illnesses.
For the Barber family, their greatest wish is for Lila's good health. Stem cell research holds the promise of making that wish, and millions of wishes like the Barbers', come true. Let us throw off the ideological shackles constraining our progress imposed by the bleak and benighted policies of the Bush administration. Let us all support S. 5 and embrace the promise for life and health and hope and cure that these discoveries present to mankind.
I thank the majority leader for sponsoring this vital legislation. I thank the Senator from Iowa for his leadership on the floor.
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