Advocates for non-destructive non-embryonic stem cell research

Contact: Brian Hart, John Rankin, United States Senator Sam Brownback - Kansas, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback commented on yesterday's House vote to force taxpayers to fund research that destroys human embryos.

"The House of Representatives fell well short of the votes they would need to override a presidential veto of legislation to increase taxpayer funded research that destroys human life," Brownback said. 

The House voted 253-174, well short of the total required to overturn a presidential veto.  President Bush vetoed identical legislation last year and the White House has announced he will do so again.  The veto was the first of his presidency.  The legislation would expand taxpayer funds being spent on deriving new stem cells by destroying human embryos.

Brownback continued, "We all want to find cures and treatments for the many diseases and maladies that affect millions of Americans, but there are better options than research that kills nascent human lives.  Private and federal dollars have funded embryonic research for over two decades, and yet embryonic stem cells have yet to treat one human patient.  Conversely, completely ethical and non-controversial adult and other non-embryonic stem cells have already been shown to have clinical applications for over 70 different types of diseases.  Taxpayers should not be left to foot the bill of human embryonic stem cell research, which has proven to be highly inefficient as well as unethical.  I look forward to a vigorous bioethics debate in the Senate."

Prior to the final vote on this legislation yesterday, the House voted against a provision that would prevent taxpayer-funded human cloning.  Brownback concluded, "I'm disappointed that a majority of House members would not back up in writing what they so often claim in speech about their opposition to human cloning."