Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2007
Floor Speech
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - June 07, 2007)
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Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, earlier today the other body passed S. 5, the embryonic stem cell research bill, by a vote of 247 to 176. This legislation offers hope to literally 100 million people in our own country.
I think of the individual names. Mr. President, I had a friend in law school, Larry Katz, who died of ALS. If you have ever seen someone who suffered from that disease, you know how cruel it can be. So today I think of Larry Katz and I think of those individuals who are suffering from diseases in which embryonic stem cell research holds out hope of a cure, of a way of dealing with these diseases. I think of Josh Basil. Josh was a young person who was on the beaches in Delaware. A wave hit him, picked him up, turned him upside down, and fractured his spine. He is a quadriplegic today. He has hope that he will walk again. He exercises and works out every day to keep his muscles in great shape. But he wants us to meet him halfway. He wants us to give the tools to the scientists so they can look at ways in which we can regenerate the damaged parts of his body.
Embryonic stem cell research holds out tremendous hope. It allows, we hope, for the regeneration of damaged cells. This is incredible work which is being done at research institutions in this country. I am proud of the work being done at Johns Hopkins University in my own State and the University of Maryland Medical Center and NIH looking at ALS, looking at spinal cord injuries, looking at Alzheimer's, heart disease, Parkinson's, diabetes, and looking at embryonic stem cell research as perhaps finding the answer to these diseases.
Dr. John Gearhart and Dr. Douglas Kerr at Johns Hopkins have helped me to understand what embryonic stem cell research could mean. They have taken paralyzed mice and have been able to get movement by injecting embryonic stem cells into mice.
The United States has been the leader in the world on research. We have seen incredible discoveries in this country. Yet, today, we are seeing researchers leave the United States because of the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. They are going to other countries where those restrictions do not apply, robbing this Nation and robbing the world of the collaborative research that could be taking place. The reason, frankly, dates back to August 9, 2001, when President Bush issued his Executive order.
We have a lot more information today than we did in 2001. In 2001, we thought there were 60 to 78 stem cell lines available that researchers could use. We were wrong. There were only about 22 lines available. Most are contaminated. We don't have the diversity we need in order that scientists can really look at embryonic stem cell research and get the best potential out of that type of research. We know that today. If we knew then what we know now, we would have realized those restrictions are not workable.
S. 5 is a bipartisan bill. It deals with embryos that are currently in existence. It sets up the ethical framework to do the proper research. You cannot create an embryo for the purpose of sale for research. It has to be in existence today. It has to have the consent of the donor. You can't get financial incentives for doing it. They have to be embryos which were going to be used for in vitro fertilization which now are going to be destroyed. It allows those embryos to be used for legitimate medical research. It is the right thing to do for this country. It is the right thing to do, to give hope to 100 million people in this country. Now it has passed this body, it has passed the other body. We have a bill that provides the right balance for us to move forward as the world leader in medical research.
Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the Director of NIH, said:
From my standpoint, it is clear today that American science will be better served and the Nation will be better served if we let our scientists have access to more stem cell lines.
Dr. Zerhouni is our leader on this issue in this country.
We are now at another crossroads where we can take a choice and move forward so America can continue to lead the world in appropriate research to try to end the misery of suffering for those who have ALS or spinal cord injuries or Alzheimer's, heart disease, Parkinson's--so many different types of diseases in which embryonic stem cell research holds out such promise.
I urge the President of the United States, don't let your veto stand in the way. Don't do it. Move forward with a bill that is bipartisan, a bill that has been vetted properly among all communities.
This is a bill which, we understand, provides the right framework for research in this country. We have that opportunity if only the President will sign this bill and allow our scientists to do the appropriate work to help the people of this Nation and literally help the people of the world. I urge the President of the United States to sign S. 5, which will shortly be presented to him.
At this point, I have been informed that the Senator from California does not intend to use her time.
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