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CAMR Members: I feel a little like a college student who just found out there was a big midterm right after spring break! It appears that a vote on S.5 will be the Senate's first order of business when they return from the spring recess. Debate is set to begin on Tuesday the 10th, with a vote to follow either late on Wednesday the 11th or on Thursday the 12th. We expect there to be two bills being debated and voted on, S. 5 and an as yet unnumbered bill from Senator Isakson. There will be no amendments allowed and both bills will require 60 votes to pass. S.5 has been modified from earlier versions and will now include the language from S. 2754 which passed without opposition last summer. This simply encourages the NIH to pursue other forms of stem cell research as well. If the Isakson bill as introduced is what we have seen in draft form, it is only a distraction. It seeks to allow funding for stem cell lines derived from something it refers to as a "naturally dead" embryo. It will not change policy in any meaningful way. CAMR will take no position on this bill. As we have seen with past votes, it is a political fig leaf designed to allow stem cell opponents to appear as if they are supporters. It does not appear the bill would do any substantive harm, so we will just ignore it. Our message is simple - there is one bill that matters, one vote that will advance stem cell research, one vote for patients, and that is a vote for S.5. Ok, so now we know we have a big test coming up, and we have homework to do over the recess to get ready for it. 1 - All of your organizations should send letters in to all 100 Senators asking them to vote for S. 5. 2 - You should all activate your membership and grassroots contacts and urge them to send in letters asking for support of S. 5 3 - All of your membership and grassroots should be urged to make contact with their Senators while they are at home for the recess 4 - All of your membership and grassroots should be urged to submit opeds and letters to the editors to local papers on the issue We will be in touch over the coming days with more information and more calls to action. I look forward to our hard work taking us to another key legislative victory in April! Sean Tipton President Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research Director, Public Affairs American Society for Reproductive Medicine [log in to unmask] 202-863-2494 202-421-5112 (mobile) _______________________________________________ CAMR.friends mailing list [log in to unmask] http://www.freehood.net/mailman/listinfo/camr.friends ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn