As Vote Nears, DeLay
Attacks Bill
Expanding Stem Cell
Research
By SHERYL GAY
STOLBERG, NYTimes on the Web, May 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 18 -- With a
vote on embryonic stem cell research expected as early as next week, the House
majority leader vowed on Wednesday to defeat a measure that would expand federal
financing of the science.
"Once people understand the issue," said the majority leader, Representative Tom
DeLay of Texas, "more than 70 percent are against embryonic stem cell research."
Mr. DeLay said there would be votes on two competing measures. One,
sponsored by Representative Michael N. Castle, Republican of Delaware, would
loosen restrictions that President Bush imposed in August 2001 on federal
financing of such research. The other, sponsored by Representative
Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, would encourage research on a
different type of stem cell, drawn from umbilical cord blood, by creating a
national network of cord-blood banks.
Mr. DeLay told reporters that he was "adamantly opposed" to the Castle bill,
which has 201 co-sponsors from both parties; 218 votes are required for
approval. Mr. Smith's measure, which Mr. DeLay supports, has 41
co-sponsors.
Because embryonic stem cells have the potential to give rise to any cell or
tissue in the body, scientists and patients' advocates say the research offers
great prospects for treatments and cures. But to obtain the cells,
scientists must destroy human embryos, and so the research also draws intense
opposition, particularly from conservatives and the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Bush's policy permits the federal government to pay for studies only on
those colonies, called lines, of stem cells that were created prior to his 2001
announcement, so as not to encourage the further destruction of embryos.
The Castle bill, similar to one sponsored in the Senate by Arlen Specter,
Republican of Pennsylvania, would roll back that restriction, permitting the
creation of new lines from embryos that would otherwise be discarded by
fertility clinics.
The issue prompted intense debate Wednesday within the Republican caucus, which
met behind closed doors in late afternoon to discuss it. Some Republicans
were seething over a poll conducted by the Winston Group and partly financed by
the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of moderates. Mr. Castle is the
partnership's president.
The survey questioned voters in 13 Republican districts and found that 66
percent supported embryonic stem cell research, while 27 percent were opposed.
But lawmakers in those districts, including Representative Roy Blunt of
Missouri, the third-ranking Republican in the House, were not told about the
poll and were caught off guard by it.
Mr. Blunt emerged tight-lipped from Wednesday's meeting, brushing aside
questions from supporters, except to say that he did not support Mr. Castle's
bill.
As the vote draws closer, interest groups on both sides are gearing up. In
addition to its poll, the Republican Main Street Partnership has begun running
television advertisements in support of the Castle measure. But the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a competing poll saying a
majority of Americans, 52 percent, opposed embryonic stem cell research while
just 36 percent supported it.
On Wednesday, Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, the American bishops'
chief representative on abortion, sent a letter to all members of Congress
saying the Castle bill would encourage large-scale destruction of human embryos,
which the church regards as human beings.
"I urge you in the strongest possible terms," Cardinal Keeler wrote, "to oppose
all destructive and morally offensive proposals of this kind."
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