Thursday August  9  9:49 PM ET
Text of Bush's Stem Cell Speech
By The Associated Press,
Text of President Bush announcement
Thursday in Crawford, Texas, that he will allow federal funding
for research on existing stem cell lines:

BUSH: Good evening. I appreciate you giving me a few minutes
of your time tonight so I can discuss with you a complex and
difficult issue, an issue that is one of the most profound
of our time.

The issue of research involving stem cells derived from
human embryos is increasingly the subject of a national
debate and dinner table discussions. The issue is confronted
every day in laboratories as scientists ponder the ethical
ramifications of their work. It is agonized over by parents
and many couples as they try to have children or to save
children already born. The issue is debated within the church,
with people of different faiths - even many of the same faith -
coming to different conclusions.

Many people are finding that the more they know about stem
cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical
and moral conclusions.

My administration must decide whether to allow federal funds,
your tax dollars, to be used for scientific research on stem cells
derived from human embryos.

A large number of these embryos already exist. They are the
product of a process called in vitro fertilization which helps so
many couples conceive children. When doctors match sperm
and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce
more embryos than are implanted in the mother.

Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are
unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in
laboratories. Some will not survive during long storage;
others are destroyed. A number have been donated to
science and used to create privately funded stem cell lines.
And a few have been implanted in an adoptive mother,
and born, and are today healthy children.

Based on preliminary work that has been privately funded,
scientists believe further research using stem cells offers
great promise that could help improve the lives of those
who suffer from many terrible diseases, from juvenile
diabetes to Alzheimer's, from Parkinson's to spinal cord
injuries. And while scientists admit they are not yet certain,
they believe stem cells derived from embryos have unique
potential.

You should also know that stem cells can be derived from
sources other than embryos: from adult cells, from umbilical
cords that are discarded after babies are born, from human
placentas. And many scientists feel research on these types
of stem cells is also promising. Many patients suffering
from a range of diseases are already being helped with
treatments developed from adult stem cells.

However, most scientists, at least today, believe that
research on embryonic stem cells offers the most promise
because these cells have the potential to develop in all
of the tissues in the body.

Scientists further believe that rapid progress in this research
will come only with federal funds. Federal dollars help attract
the best and brightest scientists. They ensure new discoveries
are widely shared at the largest number of research facilities,
and that the research is directed toward the greatest public
good.

The United States has a long and proud record of leading the
world toward advances in science and medicine that improve
human life, and the United States has a long and proud record
of upholding the highest standards of ethics as we expand
the limits of science and knowledge.

Research on embryonic stem cells raises profound ethical
questions, because extracting the stem cell destroys the
embryo and thus destroys its potential for life.

Like a snowflake, each of these embryos is unique, with the
unique genetic potential of an individual human being.

As I thought through this issue I kept returning to two
fundamental questions. First, are these frozen embryos
human life and therefore something precious to be
protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed
anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good,
for research that has the potential to save and improve
other lives?

I've asked those questions and others of scientists, scholars,
bioethicists, religious leaders, doctors, researchers, members
of Congress, my Cabinet and my friends. I have read heartfelt
letters from many Americans. I have given this issue a great
deal of thought, prayer, and considerable reflection,
and I have found widespread disagreement.

On the first issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one
researcher told me he believes this five-day-old cluster
of cells is not an embryo, not yet an individual,
but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the potential for life,
but it is not a life because it cannot develop on its own.

An ethicist dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization.
``Make no mistake,'' he told me, ``that cluster of cells is the same
way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes
with a heavy heart if we use these,'' he said, ``because we are
dealing with the seeds of the next generation.''

And to the other crucial question - If these are going to be
destroyed anyway, why not use them for good purpose? -
I also found different answers.

Many of these embryos are byproducts of a process that
helps create life, and we should allow couples to donate
them to science so they can be used for good purpose
instead of wasting their potential.

Others will argue there is no such thing as excess life,
and the fact that a living being is going to die does not
justify experimenting on it or exploiting it as a natural
resource.

At its core, this issue forces us to confront fundamental
questions about the beginnings of life and the ends of
science. It lives at a difficult moral intersection,
juxtaposing the need to protect life in all its phases with
the prospect of saving and improving life in all its stages.

As the discoveries of modern science create tremendous
hope, they also lay vast ethical mine fields.

As the genius of science extends the horizons of what
we can do, we increasingly confront complex questions
about what we should do. We have arrived at that
``Brave New World'' that seemed so distant in 1932
when Aldous Huxley wrote about human beings created
in test tubes in what he called a hatchery.

In recent weeks, we learned that scientists have created
human embryos in test tubes solely to experiment on them.
This is deeply troubling and a warning sign that should
prompt all of us to think through these issues very carefully.

Embryonic stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series
of moral hazards. The initial stem cell researcher was at first
reluctant to begin his research, fearing it might be used for
human cloning. Scientists have already cloned a sheep.
Researchers are telling us the next step could be to clone
human beings to create individual designer stem cells,
essentially to grow another you, to be available in case
you need another heart or lung or liver.

I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans.
We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare
body parts or creating life for our convenience.

And while we must devote enormous energy to conquering
disease, it is equally important that we pay attention
to the moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human
embryo stem cell research. Even the most noble ends do not
justify any means.

My position on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs.
I'm a strong supporter of science and technology, and believe
they have the potential for incredible good - to improve lives,
to save life, to conquer disease. Research offers hope that
millions of our loved ones may be cured of a disease and rid
of their suffering. I have friends whose children suffer from
juvenile diabetes. Nancy Reagan has written me about
President Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's. My own family
has confronted the tragedy of childhood leukemia. And like all
Americans, I have great hope for cures.

I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator.
I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your
president I have an important obligation to foster and
encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world.

And while we're all hopeful about the potential of this research,
no one can be certain that the science will live up to the hope
it has generated.

Eight years ago, scientists believed fetal tissue research
offered great hope for cures and treatments, yet the progress
to date has not lived up to its initial expectations.

Embryonic stem cell research offers both great promise and
great peril, so I have decided we must proceed with great care.

As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse
stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos
that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability
to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing
opportunities for research.

I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used
for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the
life-and-death decision has already been made.

Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great
promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures.

This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem
cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by
providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage
further destruction of human embryos that have at least the
potential for life.

I also believe that great scientific progress can be made
through aggressive federal funding of research on umbilical
cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells, which do not
involve the same moral dilemma. This year your government
will spend $250 million on this important research.

I will also name a president's council to monitor stem cell
research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations
and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications
of biomedical innovation.

This council will consist of leading scientists, doctors,
ethicists, lawyers, theologians and others and will be
chaired by Dr. Leon Cass, a leading biomedical ethicist
from the University of Chicago.

This council will keep us apprised of new developments
and give our nation a forum to continue to discuss and
evaluate these important issues.

As we go forward, I hope we will always be guided by both
intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience.

I have made this decision with great care, and I pray it is the
right one.

Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless America.

SOURCE: Yahoo Daily News
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010809/pl/bush_text_1.html

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