Diana DeGette

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire as to the time remaining on each side.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I now recognize the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) for 1 minute.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.) Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind). (Mr. KIND asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished Democratic Caucus Chair, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I do not know if now would be the time to yield 2 of my last minutes also to Mr. Barton.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Ranking Member Barton for his thoughtful, thoughtful approach and his support of this issue. I also want to thank my friend and compadre, Mr. Castle, who has fought hand in hand for this legislation with me for years now. And I also want to thank the many Members who have helped us through this long process and will be helping us long after today. This is the first time I can remember a bipartisan whip effort in the 10 years I have been in Congress. Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Bono, Mr. Bradley, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Dent, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Perlmutter, and Mr. Upton. Thank you, thank you, and our work is not completed. I want to talk for a minute about what H.R. 3 does, because there are a lot of misstatements that have been made today on this floor. H.R. 3 simply expands the number of stem cell lines that can be used for research that is done in an ethical manner. In 2001, President Bush restricted stem cell research to lines that existed as of that date. In the ensuing years, we have learned there were not 73 lines, as has been asserted today, but somewhere between 19 and 22 lines. We learned that all of those lines are contaminated with mouse feeder cells and are not appropriate for clinical use. We learned that the research is going offshore and into private hands. Perhaps most disturbingly, we learned that the U.S. Government has no ethical control over current private research or State research into embryonic stem cell lines. For that reason, we drafted a bill that both expands the research and sets forward a rigid code of ethics. Only cells that are created to give life for in vitro fertilization but then are slated to be thrown away as medical waste, thrown away, can be donated for this research, by informed consent. It is very narrow and it is very ethical. That is why 522 patient advocacy groups, health organizations, research universities, scientific societies, religious groups, and other associations have endorsed this bill. It expands research, and it does it in an ethical way. Embryonic stem cells were first identified from mouse embryos in 1981 and primate embryos in 1995; but until November 1998, animal embryos were the only source for research. In 1998, for the first time, researchers learned that embryonic stem cells could be used in humans, and that is when we found so much potential, potential for diseases that affect 110 million Americans and their families, Americans suffering from diabetes, Parkinson's, nerve damage, and on and on. The great promise of this research is why people like Nancy Reagan, Michael J. Fox, Orrin Hatch, Mary Tyler Moore, pro-life and pro-choice, have come together to say, we cannot deny this research. We must not say let's just throw these cells away and discard them. Let's allow people to donate them in order to give life and to give hope. Now, the opposition tries to obfuscate this issue time and time again, and we simply cannot let that happen. We are not researchers; we are Congress. It is our job to promote all ethical scientific research, not to pick and choose among methods. I can't think of a time when Congress says, oh, scientists, use that method to research cancer cures but not this method. That is not our job. Our job is to say let's support all ethical research, adult stem cells, cord blood, alternative methods, amniotic stem cells, and embryonic stem cell research. In conclusion, I will say that this is the next step on a long road; and I implore all of you to think not about yourself, not even about your parents, but your grandchildren and your great grandchildren. When we find these cures, we will say we did the right thing today. Vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished new Member from Ohio (Mr. Space).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker alleged that Dr. Atala, who is doing the embryonic stem cell research, said that it is not the way to go, that embryonic stem cell research is not the way to go. In fact, in the letter that my distinguished colleague Mr. Castle has already submit for the record, Dr. Atala specifically says that amniotic stem cell research is not a substitute for embryonic research. And he further says: It is essential that National Institutes of Health funded researchers are able to fully pursue embryonic stem cell research as a complement to research into other forms of stem cells. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished new member from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am now delighted to yield 2 minutes to another new Member, the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Patrick J. Murphy).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent). (Mr. DENT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished new Member from Florida (Mr. Klein).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished new Member from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to now yield 1 minute to the distinguished majority leader, Mr. Hoyer.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Mitchell).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Indiana and several other people have said they don't think taxpayers should fund this research. But, in fact, we have a national consensus in this country in support of taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research, 72 percent, to be exact. We fund all other types of this research, so we have this national consensus. My constituents in the First Congressional District of Colorado, the vast majority, the majority, do not want to fund this war. That doesn't mean, Mr. Speaker, that they don't have to pay their taxpayer dollars. We should fund this with taxpayer dollars because the NIH and our public institutions are the driving force behind basic research for the private researchers, for the foreign researchers and for all of this wonderful research that is going to, we hope, cure diseases. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished new Member from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted now to yield 1 minute to the distinguished new Member from New York (Mr. Hall). (Mr. HALL of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield now to the gentleman and new Member from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth) 1 minute. (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the Energy and Commerce Committee, my colleague, Ms. Eshoo, 2 minutes.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am now very pleased to recognize my friend and colleague from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) for 3 minutes. (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished Member from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver).

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), the chairwoman of the Rules Committee.

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.