“On the fourth anniversary of the President’s stem-cell policy, we find there is no stem-cell policy, because there are no available stem cells for human research. President Bush’s policy, announced on August 9, 2001, originally identified and provided federal funding for 78 stem-cell lines that were already in existence. Today we know that only 22 are available, but all 22 are contaminated by mouse feeder- cells.

The House of Representatives has approved legislation, H.R. 810, which expands federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research involving new lines derived from embryos that would otherwise be discarded from in vitro fertilization clinics. The Senate should pass this bill in September and the President should sign it. Hopefully, now that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has announced support for this bill, there will be new momentum to speed passage of the bill.

To not have the U.S. participate in what offers the greatest hope in a generation to millions of people suffering from chronic and catastrophic disease is unconscionable.

Congress should also pass legislation that bans human reproductive cloning once and for all. Senator Orrin Hatch and I have sponsored a bill that would make it a federal crime to clone or attempt to clone a human being. It establishes strict penalties: ten years in prison for anyone convicted and a fine of $1 million or three times any profits made. The bill has been cosponsored by 28 members of the Senate from both sides of the aisle.

Embryonic stem cell research is the bright frontier of medicine. It offers hope for cures to diabetes, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other dread diseases. But it is critical that there be an effective federal stem cell policy to provide a consistent framework for funding and strict ethical standards.

So I'm calling on all Americans to create a drumbeat of support for embryonic stem-cell research. Call your Senators. Write the President. Tell him the time has come for a new stem-cell policy, which will equip our researchers with the tools they need to find cures.”

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