Political Quotes

“over the next few moments I will be addressing an issue that affects potentially thousands of people today who are without therapy or who have debilitating diseases, and then begin a brief discussion on what is called the cord blood bill. The bill, broadly supported in a bipartisan way, has widespread support in the Senate, as well as in the House of Representatives. As my colleagues know, we plan to take up and debate the policy and issues related to Federal support and oversight for embryonic stem cell research early next year. And I look forward to what I know will be a full debate on the science and ethics surrounding this important research. Today, I ask consent to move forward with bipartisan legislation to encourage a technology that is producing cures and saving lives now. This legislation is needed now. Every day, patients young and old die waiting for transplants of hematopoetic cells because they can't find a suitable match. Diseases like leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and as many as 70 other blood and genetic diseases have been helped or cured by Cord blood transplants. Cord blood is a healthy byproduct of normal pregnancies, and is harvested from the placenta after the baby is safely delivered. The placental byproducts yield blood cells that are genetically immature, but have the remarkable ability to help recreate blood cells in patients who have diseases that traditionally have only helped through bone marrow transplants.…”