Byron Dorgan: “I looked forward very much to having a debate on stem cell research in the month of July. It now appears that that will…”

“I looked forward very much to having a debate on stem cell research in the month of July. It now appears that that will not be the case. Nonetheless, I compliment the Senator from Tennessee, the majority leader, on his statement this morning. I did want to make this point and ask a question of the Senator from Illinois. Is it not the case that those unused frozen embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics can become one of a couple of things? First and foremost, at the moment when they are unused and discarded, they become hospital waste. Second, and importantly, they can, if used in stem cell research, be used in the important medical research to preserve and to save lives. I say to my colleague from Kansas, I have lost a daughter to heart disease--many of us have lost loved ones. I will never, ever, on the floor of this Chamber, be a part of those who wish to shut down promising medical research, especially when the ability to provide that research comes from embryos that otherwise would become hospital waste. My colleague from Illinois asked the pertinent question, and perhaps when we have this debate some day we will have a greater description of that, but if in fact that is a human life which is now thrown in the waste basket as hospital waste, unused embryos that are discarded, if in fact that is a human life--it is not, by the way--should the destruction of that as hospital waste not be treated criminally?…”