Seven years after publicly announcing his battle with Parkinson's disease, Michael J. Fox still draws a crowd. These days it's not for a Hollywood premiere, but to encourage Congress and the president to expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

Last week, Fox was in Washington representing the millions of Americans who are suffering from devastating and catastrophic diseases and can't understand why our government isn't making a major commitment to fund and encourage this promising research.

I can't quite understand it either. Embryonic stem-cell research is the bright new frontier of medicine. It offers the potential to conquer Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's and cancer. Our nation should be mobilizing toward this great goal.

But the policy set out by President Bush in August 2001 hamstrings scientists and creates new hurdles for researchers. President Bush's policy originally identified and provided federal funding for 78 stem-cell lines that were already in existence. Today we know that only 22 are available. All 22 are contaminated by mouse feeder cells, and none can be used for research in humans.

The House of Representatives has approved legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. New lines would be created from embryos that would otherwise be discarded from in vitro fertilization clinics.

The Senate stands ready to pass the same legislation by a large majority and send it to the president.

However, barriers to passage remain. Opponents of this legislation are trying to muddy the waters with alternatives and amendments designed to prevent embryonic stem-cell research from going forward. And President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation.

No matter what happens in Congress, embryonic stem-cell research will go forward.

Researchers in other countries are overcoming hurdles and achieving breakthroughs on stem-cell research almost every day. South Korea has announced that its scientists have crated 11 human stem-cell lines that are genetically identical to 11 patients with spinal cord injuries and juvenile diabetes ranging in age from 2 to 56.

Other countries are not far behind: Research is also moving forward in Australia, India, the United Kingdom, Canada and China. And American scientists have left the United States to work on their research in these countries.

In the United States, four states have provided their own funding for embryonic cell research. Just last week, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed an executive order to distribute $10 million in grants. California voters approved a $3 billion bond measure to provide funding over the next 10 years. Connecticut has provided $100 million over the next 10 years. And the New Jersey Senate has approved $150 million.

Nevertheless, there needs to be an effective federal stem-cell policy to provide 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 the federal government to equip our researchers with the tools they need to find cures.

President John Kennedy in 1961 set out a great goal before our nation -- to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. And we reached that goal -- as a result of American ingenuity, persistence and drive.

The same could be true with embryonic stem-cell research. We can find new cures and treatments in the next decade. But we will not reach this goal if we handcuff our researchers and scientists.