"Wait Til Next Year" Stem Cell Vote Delayed
(the latest alert, just sent to the StemPAC list)
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Well, we've been waiting for a Senate vote, and... the bad news is that the stem cell bill we've been fighting for -- HR 810 -- will not be voted on until early next year. But the good news -- according to Senator Arlen Specter -- is that Majority Leader Bill Frist has promised to bring it up as one of the first items of 2006.
Don't get discouraged -- this is a temporary delay, and the fight continues. But don't get complacent either. Visit www.StemPAC.com, and:
- Keep sending those letters to elected officials
- Keep telling your friends to do the same
Stay tuned for more.The fight isn't over -- it's just begun .
The StemPAC team
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Stem-Cell Vote in U.S. Senate Postponed to Early Next Year
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate won't vote on expanding funding for embryonic stem-cell research until next year, said Senator Arlen Specter, the legislation's sponsor.
"The majority leader has committed to bringing it up as one of the first items next year," Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on the floor of the Senate this morning.
Specter had threatened to attach the legislation -- passed in May by the House -- to the appropriations measure for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, which the Senate began deliberating today. Specter is chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that has jurisdiction over that spending legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, a supporter of the legislation, had promised a vote in 2005, though he opposed attaching the measure to appropriations.
The measure would loosen restrictions on federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells imposed by President George W. Bush in 2001. Conservatives oppose the controversial research because it destroys the embryos, which they consider human life. The legislation would allow research to be performed on embryos that otherwise would be destroyed.
"There have been some recent developments that there may be a way to use stem cells without destroying the embryo,'' Specter said. "If that can be done, that would be spectacular, but the success of that kind of research is a long way off and I, personally, would like to see federal funding devoted to all aspects of embryo research because the potentials are so extraordinary.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Newton-Small in Washington jnewtonsmall@bloomberg.net
John Hlinko @ 03:32 PM
3 Comments
Comments
I hear ya, but I feel for Specter as well... It's a tough situation, since they are trying to avoid having anti-stem senators block it outright. One Senator can actually block the whole thing.
It's a weird institution -- "One Man, No Vote"
Oct 21, 2005 3:40:41 PMYeah, it's very frustrating indeed, but I suspect Specter knows what he's doing.
That being said, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be raising hell. Keep sending the letters, keep getting people on board, and keep fighting.
When the vote does come in January, we need to be prepared. No more delays.
Oct 21, 2005 4:10:12 PM
Crap, that sucks. What the F*$& are they waiting for?
Oct 21, 2005 3:38:08 PM