Democratic congressional leaders plan to approve Federal embryonic stem cell funding measure in January

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Dec 2 2006

Democratic congressional leaders in January 2007 plan to approve a bill similar to a measure (HR 810) President Bush vetoed earlier this year that would have expanded federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Kellman, AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/29).

Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by Bush on that date.

Bush in July vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which would have expanded stem cell lines that are eligible for federal funding and allowed funding for research using stem cells derived from embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients. Congress lacked the two-thirds majority necessary to override Bush's veto.

According to House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the addition of six Democrats in the Senate and 29 in the House likely would not be enough to override another Bush veto on the legislation but added that Democrats aim to "build public support for a signature" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/10).

The midterm election revealed "that there's a mandate to expand embryonic stem cell research," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), co-sponsor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, said on Tuesday, adding, "The public realizes the potential benefits, and what that does is [it] puts tremendous pressure on the White House."

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesperson, said that Bush's position on the issue has not changed and that Bush would not "issue veto threats on hypothetical legislation."

Pelosi has said the measure will be voted on during the first 100 business hours of the next congressional session, which begins in January 2007, and the Senate could vote on the measure before the end of January, according to the AP/Chronicle.

"We are going to move it fairly quickly," Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said (AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/29).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.