Legislators See Opening on Stem Cell Studies
In a Divided Congress, Lawmakers Are Writing Bills,
Scheduling Hearings and Lobbying President
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2001; Page A04

As President Bush struggles over whether to spend federal money
on embryonic stem cell research, lawmakers on each side
are attempting this week to seize upon what could be
a pivotal moment in the impassioned debate.

Sensing an opening during Bush's period of indecision,
several members of Congress have written bills, scheduled
hearings, demanded White House meetings and taken
to the airwaves to reassert themselves in the battle over cells
smaller than the head of a pin.

"People see him [Bush] agonizing over the decision and see
this as an opportunity to push him in one direction,"
one congressional Republican said of the increasingly
aggressive maneuvers.

Pressure began mounting yesterday with an emotional news
conference by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), a leading
antiabortion activist, and the families of children born from
"adopted" frozen embryos.

"I presume the president will act in good faith and in accordance
with his campaign promise not to promote federally funded
research on human embryos," said Ken Connor, president
of the conservative Family Research Council. "If he violates
that campaign pledge, that would represent a serious issue
about his integrity."

Regardless of how or when Bush decides, many on Capitol Hill
say the battle will continue.

"I think this is an issue that should be worked out in the Congress,
and the president should defer," said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.),
who opposes research on embryonic stem cells.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) takes the opposite view on the question
of stem cells, but agreed that Congress is poised to act -- and
potentially deliver Bush a  defeat.

"If he [Bush] limits federal funding, the Senate will take it up,"
Specter said. "I believe there are more than 70 votes in the Senate
to authorize federal funding for the research and possibly
to extract the cells" for experimentation.

Others were not as confident, but noted that Senate Majority
Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) has promised to bring
the issue to the floor if Bush rejects a request allowing
the National Institutes of Health to use part of its $24.6 billion
budget on stem cell experiments.

The political landscape is less clear in the House, where three
leaders have vociferously opposed funding in the face
of at least 50 rank-and-file Republicans who support it.

Bush's mailbox has been overflowing in recent weeks with
a back-and-forth stream of letters from Capitol Hill. When
a group of three dozen House Republicans wrote urging him
to proceed, Majority Leader Richard K. Armey and Whip Tom
DeLay, both of Texas, responded with a statement condemning
those who "rely on an industry of death."

That sparked a second, sharper rebuke from members
of the usually tame Main Street Partnership, who have been
promised a meeting with senior administration officials this week.

"It is very important stem cell research be able to go forward
in the future," said Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.), who opposes
any compromises on funding. "I would be concerned about any
limitation placed on this research."

And Vice President Cheney called Armey and DeLay, urging them
to tone down the rhetoric, said aides to both.

Supporters of the research argue that the cells, which may have
the ability to grow into any type of tissue, could lead to treatments
for many diseases. Opponents object to the work because to obtain
the cells, researchers destroy embryos, mostly surplus embryos
from fertility clinics.

For weeks, the administration has promised a decision was imminent.

But according to several people who have spoken to Bush recently,
the complicated science and ethical dimensions have thrust him into
a period of great uncertainty.

Complicating Bush's decision is that the debate over stem cell
research has transcended traditional partisan or abortion
boundaries. Prominent antiabortion Republicans such as Sens.
Orrin Hatch (Utah), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Strom Thurmond
(S.C.) support the work, saying the cells hold such promiset
it would be anti-life not to pursue it. A contingent of moderate
Republicans, many of whom support abortion rights, is also
lobbying for money to continue the research.

To cut off funding "is so profoundly hostile to the concept
of intellectual freedom on which our humanity, as well as our
prosperity and democracy rests, it would be a significant mistake
to ban the use of embryonic tissue in stem cell research,"
said Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.).

Yesterday, the publicity machines cranked up as a prelude
to hearings being convened today and Wednesday in Congress.

"We know he's met with other stakeholders in this debate,
but I think you'll agree with me that no one has a bigger stake
in the outcome of this debate than these children," said Connor
of the Family Research Council.

Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), have
made intensely personal appeals to Bush.

"With my mother totally debilitated by Alzheimer's disease,
a first cousin who died from diabetes and several close friends
suffering from Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries,
I plead with you to give hope to my loved ones who are suffering,"
he wrote in a July 6 letter.

Many politicians involved in the fight said a protracted discussion
is not necessarily bad. Among them is Rep. David Joseph Weldon
(R-Fla.), a physician, who opposes embryonic stem cell research
but supports work on adult stem cells.

Lawmakers, he said, are engaged in a "legitimate debate"
on the issue. And at the White House, "the longer they drag
their feet, the more I become impressed they are truly internally
conflicted on this."

Staff writer Amy Goldstein contributed to this report.

SOURCE: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6088-2001Jul16.html

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