House Members Call on President
To Revise Stem Cell Policy
April 30, 2004 - A bipartisan coalition of more than
200 Members of the House of Representatives sent a letter
(PDF, 13 pages - 276KB) April 28 urging President Bush
to "expand the current policy concerning embryonic stem
cell research." The letter, signed by 206 House members,
was released at a press briefing on Capitol Hill.
The letter, organized by Reps. Mark Castle (R-Del.), Diana
DeGette (D-Colo.), Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.),
and Calvin Dooley (D-Calif.), calls for the Administration
to relax the current restrictions on federal support for embryonic
stem cell research. The Administration's current policy limits
federal funding to embryonic stem cells derived by August
9, 2001, the date the policy was announced.
The letter notes that although the Administration originally
thought 78 embryonic stem cell lines would be eligible for
federally-funded research, currently only 19 lines are available
to researchers. In addition, all available lines are contaminated
with mouse feeder cells, "making their therapeutic use
for humans uncertain." The letter notes "it is increasingly
difficult to attract new scientists to this area of research
because of concerns that funding restrictions will keep this
research from being successful." The letter also warns
that embryonic stem cell research is moving overseas, threatening
U.S. leadership in this area of science.
In a press
statement, AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., declared,
"This strong showing of bipartisan support is a gratifying
and clear indication that Congress realizes how important
these research tools are to medical research."
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Tony Mazzaschi, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
tmazzaschi@aamc.org
(202) 828-0059
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