House Passes Stem Cell Legislation

On Tuesday, May 24, 2005 the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to expand the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for research under the current federal guidelines.  The legislation, H.R. 810, the “Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act,” was passed by a bipartisan 238-194 vote.  The House also passed, by a 431-1 vote, legislation that would increase funding for research on stem cells derived from umbilical cords.  The bill, H.R. 2520, also would establish a national database of blood units taken from umbilical cords to help match donors with recipients.

Both bills now move to the Senate where leaders have yet to schedule a vote on the issue. Supporters of the issue, including Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), who introduced a companion embryonic stem cell bill, S. 471, have urged the Senate leadership to hold a vote on the legislation, and it is possible that it may be considered as an amendment to other legislation moving through the Senate.  However, there is a possibility that Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) may filibuster the legislation, preventing a Senate vote.  Senator Brownback is the lead sponsor of the “Human Cloning Prohibition Act” (S. 658), which would restrict embryonic stem cell research.

For those Chapters and individuals who would like to urge their Senators to support embryonic stem cell research legislation, we are providing the attached sample letter which can be personalized and sent to Senators. 

The letter and talking points are available in the Advocacy Action Center of the ALSA website at http://capwiz.com/alsa/home. The website also will enable you to identify your Senators and send an e-mail directly to them from the website.   As was the case in the House, there are certain Senators who should be the target of any advocacy efforts that you choose to pursue.  We will post a list of targeted Senators on the website soon.  In the meantime, please focus on those Members who are not currently cosponsors of the Senate bill. The cosponsors of the Senate bill are listed below.  Therefore, if you would like to advocate on this issue, please contact Senators who are not on this list. 

If you have any questions or would like additional information about this issue, please contact Pat Wildman at pwildman@alsa-national.org or 1-877-444-ALSA. 

The following Senators are cosponsors of S. 471.  Please focus advocacy efforts on any Senator who is not a cosponsor of the bill.