Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006

FETUS FARMING PROHIBITION ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - July 17, 2006)

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I join my colleagues on the floor to speak about H.R. 810. I applaud the Senator from Illinois for his comments because I know he has many fine research institutions in his State and has met with many people who suffer from a variety of diseases who could be helped if H.R. 810 is passed and signed by the President. So I commend him for his remarks.

I certainly thank the Senator from Iowa for being out here all afternoon talking about the importance of this legislation and trying to communicate how important it is that H.R. 810, the legislation that focuses on embryonic stem cell research, be passed and signed by the President.

I also want to say I know the Senator from Kansas has been out here, and I have enjoyed working with him on a variety of pieces of legislation, particularly legislation that dealt with international marriage brokers, trying to protect women who come to America, making sure they got full information about people who were helping them apply for visas before they come to the country. So I certainly have enjoyed working with the Senator from Kansas on other legislation.

But I wish to say I think it is important we focus our debate on H.R. 810--an important bill on embryonic stem cell research--in the context of science, because I believe Congress must not stand in the way of science. I think tomorrow's vote is exactly what that is about. So I want to be clear that I support that legislation and will work to overturn any attempts to veto this legislation.

Like my colleagues, I have met these Americans who for too long have wanted to have hope. They have waited to have real hope that there would be a lifesaving stem cell research program. Many Americans believe we can do better. We know there are 3 million Americans who need help, and we understand that by investing today we can save lives tomorrow. We understand, for Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's or ALS or Parkinson's disease, it really does mean hope and a new way of looking at opportunity for them.

We will have a debate about this continuing today and tomorrow. But we need to keep in mind it is good science that is at question. For us in Washington State, with 35,000 Washingtonians living with Parkinson's disease today, understanding what embryonic stem cell research can do for them is of utmost importance.

We also have 300,000 Washingtonians who have been diagnosed with diabetes who, obviously, are very interested in this legislation. We have 160,000 Washington State residents who struggle with heart failure and understand there is so much that could be done in this particular area of research. We have 5,000 Washingtonians who suffer from spinal cord injuries. So there are people all over our State with various medical challenges who are looking to us to make the right decision and to allow critical research to give them promise for opportunity in the future.

At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center--I know my colleague from Iowa has visited the Fred Hutchinson Research Center--they are applying groundbreaking science and using adult stem cells to treat blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and various other diseases. They are also looking to do the same for kidney cancers.

The Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason in

Seattle is working with stem cells on a collaborative 5-year project to grow a living heart. The effort could lead to tissue-engineered replacement hearts, and it means that could help us with various challenges in that particular area of health care.

The University of Washington, which is in Seattle, boasts 70 scientists involved in aspects of stem cell biology addressing everything from liver disease to coronary heart disease. Three years ago, the NIH named the University of Washington one of the three exemplary centers for human embryonic stem cell research. But in the last 5 years, since President Bush banned the funding for embryonic stem cell research, it is as though our Nation has turned its back on that science and that work that could be done, and I am sure not just in Washington State. But that is a representative example of what could be done if we moved forward.

It is important we continue to move forward by passing H.R. 810. The truth is that right now adult stem cells do not have anywhere near the scientific potential as embryonic stem cells. Their application is limited. Their reach is finite. And we do have a better option. Allowing federally funded research on embryos that would otherwise be destroyed would provide a much-needed expansion. Everything from eradicating, in our past, polio to mapping the human genome, our Nation has been a leader and an innovator in science and medicine. So let's not fall behind now. Just as we are challenged with so many of these diseases, we need to do more.

Of the original 78 stem cell lines the administration permitted scientists to work on, only 21 are available today. Lab scientists must turn to private investors and already struggling State governments to carry on this critical research. So researchers in my State, in the State of Washington, say that Federal funding would increase research opportunities and allow scientists to use that money much more effectively.

In March of 2006, the University of Washington announced that because of Federal funding restrictions, it would seek to establish a stem cell institute with private money and, instead, looks to raise $100 million in private funds to help it move forward. The University of Washington plans to reflect the intense competition it faces from other universities around the country that are boosting their research into stem cells which have permitted them to treat a variety of diseases. So the competition will continue. But we could be working together in a much more collaborative fashion, in a way that would help us extend the scope of that research.

It is very important because so many of those involved in this particular area believe passionately we need this new area of expansion. One of those individuals, Dr. Storb of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, recently said this:

We have exhausted research on adult stem cells. They do not do the trick. We have worked with them for 30 years now and know that they do not make all of the tissues in the body.

He further went on to say:

If the public wants cell-based therapies, then we must conduct that kind of stem cell research. We may learn more from embryonic cells how to program adult cells, but we have to work with embryonic cells to do just that.

So this Congress, I believe, must not stand in the way of science. We have three bills we will vote on tomorrow, but only H.R. 810 actually clears the way for critical research that could lead to cures for so many debilitating diseases.

There is no viable alternative to improving the research and serious investments that I believe H.R. 810 will provide. When we are talking to Americans who suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and others, I think it is important, as my colleague from Illinois stated, that we must keep in mind the stories of individuals.

Mr. President, one such individual is a 4-year-old who died of brain cancer. Her mother wrote to us saying how important this bill was in holding opportunities for other people in other families who suffer from brain cancer. To me, it is so important that we pass this legislation and help those individuals and families who are suffering by giving them hope for promising research that we know science can provide.

I yield the floor.

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