Arlen Specter: “Mr. Presidemt, I have sought recognition to cosponsor and speak in support of legislation introduced by Senator Santorum…”

“Mr. Presidemt, I have sought recognition to cosponsor and speak in support of legislation introduced by Senator Santorum called the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act. This bill would authorize research into deriving stem cells using alternative methods that would not result in the destruction of a human embryo. This legislation, which Senator Santorum and I have drafted in close partnership, represents a good faith effort to find common ground among those who support human embryonic stem cell research and those who do not. This bill is fully complementary to legislation that Senators Harkin, Hatch, Feinstein, Smith, and Kennedy have introduced--the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005--which would allow Federal funding for research on additional human embryonic stem cell lines. It will move forward research that could potentially eliminate the objections that some have to embryonic stem cell research while achieving the same goals. However, let me be clear, this legislation is not a substitute for supporting H.R. 810, the House-passed version of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. I believe medical research should be pursued with all possible haste to cure the diseases and maladies affecting Americans. In my capacity as Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, I have backed up this belief by supporting increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health.…”