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Hatch Pushing for Senate Vote on Stem Cells
By JENNIFER TALHELM
Associated Press Newswires
10 May 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) - Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is pressing Senate leaders to open debate on a package of bills dealing with stem cell research in hopes that Congress could vote to expand the research by the end of May.
Hatch and a bipartisan group of lawmakers back a bill that would loosen restrictions on government-paid research on human embryonic stem cells. He is lobbying Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to take action by May 24, which would mark a year since the House passed the same bill.
But while Frist has promised to bring the bill up for a Senate vote this year, he has yet to schedule the debate, Hatch said.
"This is important to the country," Hatch told The Associated Press in an interview. "I believe people who argue against embryonic stem cell research are really on the wrong side of history. Why wouldn't we do everything we can to help children with virulent diabetes?"
Supporters -- including Hatch -- say the cells would help in the search for cures for diseases including Alzheimer's, juvenile diabetes and cancer. But the process destroys the embryo, considered a life by some religious conservatives, making it a difficult issue for Republicans.
Hatch, a longtime backer of the research, would prefer a vote on the House bill alone, said his spokesman Peter Carr. But he is working to broker a deal that would allow a package of bills to come up in order to get a vote on the issue.
That package could include the House bill, another promoting ethical research practices sponsored by Hatch and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and two bills by stem cell opponent Kansas GOP Sen. Sam Brownback.
Hatch believes the bill will pass the Senate if it can come up for a vote. But it's unclear how that will happen.
President Bush has threatened to veto any legislation that would increase federal funding for stem cell research.
The issue has become especially contentious since Democrats decided to use it as a wedge in upcoming elections.
Democrats last Thursday urged Frist to hold a vote on stem cells this week.
"Further delay will mean more lost opportunities for new cures and new treatments," said a letter to Frist from 40 Senate Democrats, including Feinstein and Minority Leader Harry Reid.
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call responded by blaming Democrats for holding up debate on other health-related bills the Senate is considering this week.
Another bill sponsored Friday by Pennsylvania GOP Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter could make the debate still more complicated.
Their bill would intensify research to derive stem cells without destroying embryos, creating a way for opponents to say they support stem cell research without having to vote for the House bill.
Hatch would support the Specter/Santorum bill, Carr said, but he doesn't view it as an alternative to embryonic stem cell research.
Instead, he is arguing that the Senate should act now, saying the earlier Republicans vote, the less pain Democrats will be able to spread by November.
"I think it would be easy to do it within a day or two," Hatch said of the Senate debate. "But if you had to fight through the process, it might take longer. I don't see any reason for a fight. But some people can screw up a two-car funeral."
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