Tom Harkin: “Don't get me started on that because those have all been contaminated on mouse feeder cells. My friend from Oklahoma…”

“Don't get me started on that because those have all been contaminated on mouse feeder cells. My friend from Oklahoma said that was not true the other day, but it is true. They have been growing on mouse feeder cells, every one of them. Again, we don't know if they will ever be able to be used for any kind of human therapies. Maybe yes, maybe no. We do know that the 400-some stem cell lines derived since then privately, or by State involvement, or whatever, have not been used on mouse feeder cells. We know those, more than likely, will have the capacity of being used in human therapy. I respect people's morality, but I just don't know that I like it when somebody imposes their self-imposed morality on all of the American people. I respect the President's moral views, I really do. But I have a hard time understanding how the President can say Federal funding should not be used for embryonic stem cell research if they were derived after 9 p.m., August 9, 2001, and before that it is morally OK. For the life of me, I have never been able to understand that. If it is morally unacceptable to use Federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research, then it ought not to be used for these 21 lines either.”