(Washington, DC) - "Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition of S. 2754, the Alternative Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. I think we can all agree that stem-cell research holds tremendous promise for advances in health care for all Americans. Stem-cell research may one day lead to treatments for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries, Lou Gehrig's disease, strokes, severe bums and many more diseases and injuries.

However, Mr. Speaker, five years ago, the President made a self-serving and shortsighted decision to limit federally funded embryonic stem-cell research to stem-cell lines that already existed. At that time, on August 9, 2001, the President promised 78 stem-cell lines would be available to federal researchers, yet five years later, there are at most, only 22 lines available. Even worse, Mr. Speaker, many of these lines are contaminated with animal cells that make them unusable for human-therapeutic study.

So, Mr. Speaker, here we are half a decade later, and we are considering S. 2754 and another Republican bill, S. 3504, the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act. Let there be no mistake, Mr. Speaker, these proposals are nothing but a smoke screen; they were introduced to give political cover to Republican members who didn't vote for the embryonic stem-cell bill. I have no problem with measures that would encourage development of stem-cell lines from nonembryonic methods and prohibit embryo implantation for the purpose of deriving stem-cell lines. However, the real issue here is the President's policy that has prohibited federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research.

Let me be clear, neither of these Republican-sham bills is in any way a viable alternative to the measure the House passed last year, H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. That legislation would allow federal funding for research on embryonic stem-cell lines regardless of the date on which they were derived. Researchers and scientists would be eligible to utilize their federal funds for research on a new stem-cell line as long as their work met the strict ethical guidelines contained in the bill. Those rules restrict stem-cell lines to embryos that were created originally for fertility purposes, and that are no longer needed. This legislation will take the President's political shackles off our researchers and scientists and allow them to expand the number of stem-cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research.

The Senate has finally acted, passing H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, this afternoon. So, there is now, finally, a historic opportunity to fund research that holds incredible promise, that could lead to incredible medical breakthroughs. So, what does the President do? He pledges yet again to veto embryonic stem-cell research legislation.

How out of touch can he be? Mr. Speaker, the President has promised to veto hope; hope for the millions of Americans who have cancer or Lou Gehrig's disease or diabetes or Parkinson's disease. He has promised to veto hope for victims of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. I am shocked but not surprised that President Bush has said that his very first veto will be to block this legislation. As usual, President Bush and his rightwing Republican allies are way out on the political margins. So, if you're counting votes Mr. President, mine will be to override. My vote will be for all those Americans who want us to put their needs first, and political paybacks, second. I will vote to override the President's shameful veto when the House again takes up H.R. 810, and I urge all my colleagues to vote to override the President's veto. This vote is the key vote showing whether Congress is genuinely committed to effective federally funded embryonic stem-cell research, and most of all, restoring hope to millions of sick Americans. "

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