Political Quotes

“I also said at the time that policymakers and the public must often reassess the research, this new research, this evolving research and the circumstances under which it is conducted. As I said then--and I believe now--we must do all we can to pursue promising alternative strategies that hold the same potential, the potential for developing the pluripotent stem cell lines without damaging the embryo, without altering the embryo, without destroying the embryo or nascent human life. Shortly after that time--that was 5 years ago--the President announced his policy for embryonic stem cell research. That was remarkable at the time. I think it was August 11. It was Federally funded embryonic stem cell research for the first time ever. It did so within that ethical framework. It showed respect for human life. That is why I believe it is important for us to have this debate on the floor of the Senate. The policy also restricted the embryonic stem cell funding only to those stem cell lines that had been derived prior to his announcement. That was the cutoff line. At that time it was widely believed that there were 78 such embryonic stem cell lines that would be available for Federal funding; 78 we thought at the time when President put forth his proposal. Unfortunately, over time we have learned that had not been the case. What we thought would have been 78 lines today we realize only became 22 cell lines--22 lines--that are eligible.…”