A Weekly e-Newsletter from
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

April 13, 2007

Dear Friends,                              

This week, the Senate debated two bills dealing with federal funding for stem cell research – including a bill that I introduced – and I was proud to have the opportunity to help lead this debate on the floor. 

S.30 – The “Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem Cell Research Act”

Last month, I introduced S.30, the HOPE Act, with Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) because it allows science to move forward in an ethical and moral way by permitting federal funding of scientific research that does not harm embryos, such as deriving cells from amniotic fluid and placentas, and from embryos that have died naturally.  I spoke on the Senate floor several times this week in support of the legislation to urge my colleagues to support the bill, as well as to explain it.  The Act passed on Wednesday evening with a vote of 70 – 28.   I am extremely pleased that an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of my Senate colleagues voted in support of the HOPE Act.  My bill defines “naturally dead” as “having naturally and irreversibly lost the capacity for integrated cellular division, growth and differentiation that is characteristic of an organism, even if some cells of the former organism may be alive in a disorganized state.”  This definition is consistent with the definition of death in all 50 states.  It is absolutely possible to further embryonic stem cell research today without destroying a viable embryo and have a plethora of available stem cells for researchers and for scientists.  This bill is a common-sense approach that protects and promotes the health of human life from conception to natural death. My legislation was inspired in part based on research that is being conducted at the University of Georgia by Dr. Steven Stice on three NIH-registered embryonic stem cell lines that were derived from embryos produced during the natural course of the in-vitro fertilization process but considered incapable of surviving in the womb or during the freezing process.  This vote is an affirmation of the need to expand embryonic stem cell research. It is also an affirmation that there is a way to expand this important research while still respecting the ethical and moral concerns that exist.

S.5 – The “Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act”

The second stem cell bill we voted on this week permits federal funding of embryonic stem cell research that allows for the potential destruction of viable embryos. That bill, S.5, is similar to legislation that passed the House and Senate last year, but was later vetoed by President Bush. I voted against this legislation last year and vote against S.5 this week, because I feel it is wrong to federally fund research that potentially destroys human life when there is an alternative method of research that avoids the moral dilemma.  S.5 passed the Senate 63 – 34; however, President Bush has said he would veto S.5 and has expressed support for my HOPE bill.

What’s on Tap for Next Week?

Next week, the Senate will resume consideration of the Intelligence Reauthorization bill.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson