House Passes Stem Cell Bill
On January 11, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, by a vote of 253-174. The House passed identical legislation in 2005 with a margin of 238-194. Passage of H.R. 3, which was introduced by Diana DeGette (CO) and Mike Castle (DE), was a key objective of the new House Democratic leaders' widely touted First 100 Hours initiative. Action on an identical bill in the Senate (S. 5) is anticipated in mid-February.Members of the Research!America alliance were invited to sign on to a letter of support for H.R. 3 that was delivered to all members of the House. The letter initiative was sponsored by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which has provided leadership for the advancement of stem cell research for several years. Find out how your representative voted on H.R. 3.
The Senate held a joint hearing on S. 5 on January 19. Sen. Ted Kennedy (MA) said the hearing "is really about hope." Researchers testified that amniotic stem cells should be seen as a complement to embryonic stem cells rather than a replacement.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT) called stem cell research a "handcuffed" science, holding a pair above his head. Story C. Landis, PhD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, "If with these handcuffs we've been able to do [what we have], imagine [what we could do] without them."
Originally published 2/2007
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