I Am On the Side of Cures and Research

For too long, this federal health research effort has been operating with one hand tied behind its back.  Scientists have been prohibited from doing new stem cell research.  Five years ago, the President restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in the most narrow way.  The President’s decision created an enormous loophole for researchers in private, profit making firms in an unregulated atmosphere.  The result was federally funded stem cell research was halted almost entirely.  Stem cell research was conducted by private entities with no federal bioethical standards.  This legislation will remove the restrictions imposed by the Bush Administration that have effectively stopped this research.  This legislation provides the ethical and medical framework for federally funded stem cell research.

This legislation allows for sound science and sound ethics.  It creates strong ethical guidelines for expanded federal stem cell research.  This will ensure that research is conducted within a rigorous ethical framework providing transparency and public accountability.  This legislation expands scientists’ access to stem cell lines that are currently off-limits to federal funding now.  Under the President’s current restrictions, it will create a strong national framework that will advance the science of stem cell research.  This legislation allows for the national collaboration that is necessary to promote advancement in research that is being done across the country and around the world.

I am on the side of cures and research and I am proud to support stem cell research that will save lives.  There must be strong federal support for embryonic stem cell research with federal scrutiny, regulation and transparency that provides the sound ethical framework that supports the best science and research to find the cures that will save lives.