Tom Harkin: “I am sorry, I hate to disagree with my friend from Oklahoma, but that is not so. As a matter of fact, we do not provide…”

“I am sorry, I hate to disagree with my friend from Oklahoma, but that is not so. As a matter of fact, we do not provide that kind of Federal money now with the stem cell lines that are being researched-- the few that are being researched now--and we do not under our bill. We still operate under what is called the Dickey-Wicker amendment which prohibits the use of Federal funds being used to destroy embryos. So we do not do that anyway. I think the Senator from Oklahoma ought to read the bill a little bit more carefully and understand we do not provide for the destruction of embryos. I always find curious, every time someone speaks for the President--a spokesperson for the President--they always say the one line the President will not cross is he will not provide taxpayer money for the destruction of embryos. Well, if that is the case, then he should have no problem with S. 5, the bill we have before us, because it does not provide Federal funding for the destruction of embryos. It provides Federal funding for the research on stem cell lines that are derived by others--private entities, State entities, or whatever.”