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Thanks Greg for alerting the list about this critical vote.There is a good background article from the Washington Post that further explains the ramifications of this amendment - it is posted to the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research website. See: http://www.camradvocacy.org/fastaction/news.asp?id=721 Also see CAMR's statement on the amendment: Anti-Patent Legislation Could Cripple Medical Research http://www.camradvocacy.org/fastaction/news.asp?id=723 The Weldon amendment was quietly tacked onto the House version of the 2004 Appropriatons Bill back in July, and approved by the House without debate, by a voice vote, and with little public disclosure. The Senate has had no discussion about the amendment or its implications. The Weldon amendment would prohibit the Patent Trademark Office from issuing "patents on claims directed to or encompassing a human organism." The language is very general, terms are not defined and could be interpreted in a number of ways - and would likely be used to impede any type of stem cell or therapeutic cloning research. As Greg wrote -- Please contact the House conferees shown below and tell them to vote NO on the Weldon amendment. Linda Herman On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:25:36 -0800 Greg Wasson <[log in to unmask]> writes: > IF IT SEEMS LIKE I AM SHOUTING, ITS BECUASE THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE. > THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE OF THE US HOUSE AND SENATE MAY VOTE ON THE > APPROPRIATIONS BILL TODAY. IF THEY VOTE TO INCLUDE THE WELDON > AMENDMENT (286) TO THE APPROPRIATIONS BILL (HR 2799), IT WILL > EFFECTIVELY KILL ALL EMBRYONIC STEM RESEARCH IN THE US BY DENYING > PATENTS "ON CLAIMS DIRECTED TO OR ENCOMPASSING A HUMAN ORGANISM." > WELDON DOESN'T SAY IT CLEARLY, BUT HE MEANS EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS. NO > PATENT - RESEARCH DIES - PERIOD. > This vote is by far the most significant congressional action since > the Udall Bill of 1996. Please contact the House Conferees and urge > their vote NO on inclusion of the Weldon patent amendment. > Bill Young, R-FL10 > Chairman 202-225-5961 David Obey D-WI7 > Ranking Minority Member 202-225-3365 > Ralph Regula, R-OH-16 202-225-3876 > Jerry Lewis, R-CA-41 202-225-5861 > Frank Wolf, R-VA-10 202-225-5136 > James Walsh, R-NY-25 202-225-3701 > David Hobson, R-OH-7 202-225-4324 > Henry Bonilla, R-TX-23 202-225-4511 > Jack Kingston, R-GA-1 202-225-5831 > Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-NJ-11 202-225-5034 > George Nethercutt, Jr., R-WA-5 202-225-2006 > Tom Latham, R-IA-4 202-225-5476 > Virgil Goode, I-VA-5 202-225-4711 > Ray LaHood, R-IL-18 202-225-6201 John Murtha, D-PA-12 202-225-2065 > Alan Mollohan, D-WV-1 202-225-4172 > Marcy Kaptur, D-OH-9 202-225-4146 > Jose Serrano, D-NY-16 202-225-4361 > Rosa DeLauro, D-CT-3 202-225-3661 > Maurice Hinchey, D-NY-22 202-225-6335 > Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-CA-34 202-225-1766 > Sam Farr, D-CA-17 202-225-2861 > Allen Boyd, D-FL-2 202-225-5235 > Chaka Fattah, D-PA-2 202-225-4001 > Thanks. Your call could be the one that swings the vote on this most > important issue. > Greg > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn