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--------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Laura Eckart" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 16:10:11 -0400 Subject: 145 members! ACTION ALERT! WE NEED YOUR HELP! ALERT:A letter is being circulated in the House of Representatives by Representative Diana DeGette, D-CO and Representative Jim Ramstad, R-MN to President Bush in support of embryonic stem cell research. ACTION: If your Member of Congress has not signed this letter, please call and urge them to do so. Ask your Representative to sign onto the DeGette/Ramstad stem cell letter to the President. This letter is scheduled to be sent to the White House on Friday, July 27th. So, time is of the essence! If you are unsure of your representative's phone number please call 202-225-3121 or visit www.house.gov. ATTACHMENT: Below is a copy of the letter that will be sent to President Bush as well as Members of Congress who have already signed onto the letter. If your Member of Congress has already signed the letter, call and thank them for their support. Please send this to your family and friends and ask for there assistance. Together, we can make a difference! ---------------------------------------------------------------- President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 We are writing to express our strong support for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The surprising news reports last week on private embryonic stem cell research underscore the importance of continued federal oversight and involvement in this sensitive and important area. The reports last week that a Virginia laboratory has created human embryos to obtain stem cells for research purposes and a Massachusetts firm aims to create embryos using cloning techniques to derive stem cells for therapeutic purposes, make plain that this research, replete with moral, ethical, and scientific issues is occurring in the private sector even as the federal government debates the issues. The only way to ensure that embryonic stem cell research is conducted with strict ethical and legal guidelines is to provide federal funding and oversight. By taking this leading role, the federal government will participate in the vital debate that occurs concerning any new biotechnology, including the creation of human embryos for research purposes. We believe that these issues should not be left to the private sector to dictate alone. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines provide meaningful oversight protections by addressing such issues as informed consent, the source of cells and measures to ensure safety and the ethical use of embryonic stem cells. We understand that you are exploring various so-called compromises, including allowing federal funds for research only on existing cell lines. While we understand how that might appear to be an appealing alternative, scientists report have produced very few cell lines at this time. If this decision were made it would prove problematic because each cell line has a different potential for offering different therapies. Scientists have yet to discover and understand the full range of available cell lines, let alone their prospective medical benefits. Halting research before fully understanding these issues will thwart further development. Mr. President, you have read and heard from the scientists that research on embryonic stem cells could result in treatments or cures for millions of Americans suffering a variety of illnesses including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and heart disease. We urge you to take our views into consideration when you make this incredibly important decision. You have the lives of millions of our-and your-constituents in your hands. Signed, Below is the most recent list of members who have signed the DeGette/Ramstad letter to President Bush. Keep Up the good work. The letter will be mailed to President Bush on Monday, July 30th. Alphabetical List of Members Who Have Signed Stem Cell Letter as of July 26th 1) Neil Abercrombie 2) Gary L. Ackerman 3) Thomas H. Allen 4) Robert E. Andrews 5) Joe Baca 6) John E. Baldacci 7) Tammy Baldwin 8) Tom Barrett 9) Charles Bass 10) Howard Berman 11) Shelly Berkley 12) Judy Biggert 13) Sanford Bishop 14) Sherwood Boehlert 15) Daniel E. Bonior 16) Mary Bono 17) Rick Boucher 18) Robert A. Brady 19) Corrine Brown 20) Sherrod Brown 21) Lois Capps 22) Brad R Carson 23) Julia Carson 24) Michael N. Castle 25) William Lacy Clay 26) James Clyburn 27) Elijah E. Cummings 28) Randy "Duke" Cunningham 29) Danny Davis 30) Jim Davis 31) Susan A. Davis 32) Tom Davis 33) Peter A. DeFazio 34) Rosa DeLauro 35) Peter Deutsch 36) Lloyd Doggett 37) Calvin Dooley 38) John Duncan 39) Jennifer Dunn 40) Philip English 41) Anna Eshoo 42) Lane Evans 43) Sam Farr 44) Bob Filner 45) Mark Foley 46) Rodney Frelinghuysen 47) Martin Frost 48) James Gibbons 49) Wayne Gilchrest 50) Benjamin A. Gilman 51) Kay Granger 52) Jim Greenwood 53) Luis Gutierrez 54) Jane Harman 55) Alcee L. Hastings 56) Maurice Hinchey 57) Rush Holt 58) Joseph Hoeffel 59) Mike Honda 60) Darlene Hooley 61) Steve Horn 62) Amory Houghton, Jr. 63) Jay Inslee 64) Johnny Isakson 65) Sheila Jackson Lee 66) Eddie Bernice Johnson 67) Nancy Johnson 68) Gerald D. Kelczka 69) Sue Kelly 70) Carolyn Kilpatrick 71) Ron Kind 72) Mark S. Kirk 73) Jim Koulbe 74) Jim Langevin 75) Tom Lantos 76) Rick Larsen 77) Jim Leach 78) Barbara Lee 79) Sander M. Levin 80) Jerry Lewis 81) John Lewis 82) Zoe Lofgren 83) Nita Lowey 84) William Luther 85) Carolyn B. Maloney 86) James H. Maloney 87) Edward Markey 88) Robert Matsui 89) Carolyn McCarthy 90) Karen McCarthy 91) Jim McDermott 92) Martin Meehan 93) Carrie P. Meek 94) Robert Menendez 95) Juanita Millender-McDonald 96) Dan Miller 97) George Miller 98) Dennis Moore 99) Jim Moran 100) Connie Morrella 101) Jerrold Nadler 102) Grace Napolitano 103) George R. Nethercutt 104) John W. Olver 105) Frank Pallone 106) William J. Pascrell 107) Nancy Pelosi 108) Earl Pomeroy 109) David Price 110) Deborah Pryce 111) Jim Ramstad 112) Charles Rangel 113) Lynn N. Rivers 114) Ciro D. Rodriguez 115) Mike Ross 116) Steven R. Rothman 117) Marge Roukema 118) Lucille Roybald-Allard 119) Bobby Rush 120) Martin Olav Sabo 121) Loretta Sanchez 122) Max A. Sandlin 123) Thomas C. Sawyer 124) Janice D. Schakowsky 125) Bobby Scott 126) E. Clay Shaw 127) Christopher Shays 128) Robert R. Simmons 129) Louise Slaughter 130) Ted Strickland 131) Hilda Solis 132) John Spratt 133) Pete Stark 134) Ted Strickland 135) Ellen O. Tauscher 136) William M. Thomas 137) John F. Tierney 138) Edolphus Towns 139) Stephanie Tubb Jones 140) Mark Udall 141) Nydia Velazquez 142) Diane Watson 143) Melvin Watt 144) Henry A. Waxman 145) David Wu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn