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From:
The Boston Globe
August 13, 2001, Monday ,THIRD EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A4
HEADLINE: CONGRESS SET TO DEBATE STEM CELL RULE KEY SENATORS SEEK BROADER
FUNDING POLICY
BYLINE: By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff

   CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush hopes to move past the controversial
topic
of stem cell research this week and return to his own agenda, leaving it
to
scientists to hash out the details of working under new guidelines he
announced
last Thursday.

   But key members of Congress are prepared to pursue the matter, giving
both
advocates and opponents hope that the president's decision may not be set
in
stone, or will at least receive further scrutiny. Next month two
Democratic
Senate chairmen, including Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, will hold
hearings on stem cell technology, and majority leader Thomas A. Daschle
of South
Dakota has said the Senate may seek to broaden the president's directive
for
funding research that many believe could cure grave disease.

      Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, plans to push
forward
with his bill to fund stem cell research with minimal limitations.
Although he
conceded yesterday that the drive to bring it to an immediate vote may
have
weakened, Specter said on CBS that he is "very skeptical" the Bush rules
will
ultimately provide enough latitude for researchers to do their work.

   Getting both houses of Congress to pass a bill at odds with the
president's
order would present a serious challenge, and two senior White House
officials,
chief of staff Andrew H. Card and counselor Karen Hughes, have suggested
that
Bush would strongly consider vetoing any alteration.

   At the same time, some advocates expect Congress to wait for science
to
evolve before pushing to change the law. Under the new rules, researchers
can
begin applying next year for federal funding grants to work on stem
cells, as
long as they are derived from embryos destroyed before Aug. 9, the date
Bush
made his announcement.

   Once that process is underway, some advocates think problems with the
Bush
directive will emerge, spurring a new round of policy debate.

   Many scientists fear that the 60 or 65 stem cell lines that reportedly
fit
the new rules will offer too small a pool, especially if some are
unacceptable,
or unavailable, for research. Among the concerns is that some stem cells
could
be less productive than others, lack enough genetic variation, or be
closely
guarded by private companies that currently hold them.

   "There is no consensus now, politically, for anything that involves
the
destruction of embryos," said Ronald M. Green, director of the Ethics
Institute
at Dartmouth College. But, he said, "Bush's provision is filled with
problems,
particularly regarding the 60 lines. I think the Senate will move ahead
with
broader permission than Bush has created."

   If the limited number is eventually portrayed as a hindrance to
meaningful
research, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato,
"that
alone will trigger a reconsideration of his policy."

   Among the proposals that could be revisited is the Specter bill, which
would
allow the use of taxpayer funds for work on thousands of frozen embryos
discarded annually from fertility clinics. Another proposal is to return
to the
Clinton policy, which permitted federal funding of research on stem cells
as
long as they were derived from embryos destroyed in the private sector.

   But building political momentum to override the president could prove
difficult in Congress, given how complex the subject is and how few
members, let
alone voters, fully understand it. "It's not an issue the public would
necessarily be receptive to on a partisan basis," Sabato said.

   Strong supporters of research also are troubled by the closely related
debate
over cloning, which Bush said he opposes in all forms. Although there is
widespread support in Congress for banning the cloning of human beings,
scientists argue that cloning cells only for use in their first few weeks
will
become a critical part of stem cell research, because it allows them to
create
treatments that are genetically compatible with patients. The House has
already
banned all cloning, and the Senate is expected to take up the matter
soon.

   As public debate over stem cell research grew in the months leading up
to the
president's announcement, the usual political lines in Congress became
blurred,
with several antiabortion Republicans, including Senators Bill Frist of
Tennessee and Orrin Hatch of Utah, coming out in support of some form of
federal
funding.

   The same Republicans, however, have shown no inclination to push Bush
further. Specter, a moderate who favors legalized abortion, is among the
few
voicing interest in challenging the president from within the Republican
caucus.

   Among conservatives, efforts to ban all funding - or to take it
further and
criminalize embryo destruction outright - have found support in the House
in the
past. Yesterday, Senator Sam Brownback, the Kansas Republican leading the
call
to ban all funding for stem cell research conceded, "I do not think the
votes
are probably there presently to go against what the president has put
forward"
from conservatives in the Senate. But he pledged to block any attempt to
expand
the new rules.

   On the Democratic side, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, a cosponsor of the
Specter bill, has sounded reluctant to press for broader guidelines until
further medical research is available.

   But other Democrats are more vocal in their criticism of the Bush
decision,
and are considering how to proceed. Daschle told reporters last week that
"the
Senate will want to take action." Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts,
a
Democrat who called the announcement a "setback, but not a deterrent,"
alluded
to a brewing legislative debate.

   "We will continue to push for moral and thoughtful answers on stem
cell
research consistent with the full promise of science," Kerry said in a
statement.

   Kennedy, chairman of the Senate health committee that oversees medical
research, was similarly vague about his course of action, saying he was
"optimistic that Congress will enact the legislation needed to enable
this
research to move forward, with proper ethical and scientific oversight."

   From his committee perch, Kennedy is positioned to keep the matter in
the
news, and plans to do so with the hearing scheduled for Sept. 5. The
Appropriations Committee has scheduled separate hearings next month as
well.

   Anne E. Kornblut can be reached via e-mail at [log in to unmask]

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