Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 11, 2007)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, some of my colleagues who have spoken before me on the side of life have been extremely eloquent, and I am very glad that they have spoken this morning.
I have listened to the debate this morning, and I want to say that many people are very cynical about our government and about Congress in general, and I can understand why this debate would make even more people cynical. To say to the American people that by approving more Federal dollars to do embryonic stem cell research would cure all of these diseases that are brought out and that those of us who oppose spending more Federal dollars on embryonic stem cell research are stopping the advance of science is one of the most cynical things I have ever heard said on this floor and, I think, will tend to make more people think that Members of Congress who are pro-life are cruel and unkind.
As my colleagues have said, the score board is 72-0. Nothing efficacious has come out of embryonic stem cell research in 25 years of research. In fact, a lot of negative things have happened. And to mislead the American public is cruel. It is just absolutely cruel to make people think again that they could be cured.
Thirty years ago, I lost a side of my right eye completely from a detached retina. You can't implant retinas. You can't transplant retinas. The only thing that could possibly help me would be a new retina to be grown.
So I support stem cell research. I support Dr. Atala's work in North Carolina at Wake Forest because they are actually growing organs from people's own stem cells. That research has enormous potential. Adult stem cell research has done good things. Embryonic stem cell research creates tumors and rejection. Dr. Atala would tell you that himself. It is not the way to go.
What we need to be doing is promoting stem cell research and to do all that we can. My husband is diabetic. I am very empathetic to the fact that research could do a lot to help us with diseases, but this is not the route to go. Killing human life does not have to be accomplished to create efficacious treatments for people and diseases.
Again, I am so disappointed in the way this has been presented to the American people. We are doing embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research and stem cell research are two different things. My colleagues never use the word embryonic. They always say stem cell research. Pro-lifers support stem cell research; we just don't support the destruction of life to get there.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov/