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This Month in Congress Cord Blood Program Fully Funded by Smith/Davis Amendment July 20, 2007 Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Artur Davis (R-AL) proposed an amendment to the Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill that passed by voice vote in the House on Wednesday. The Labor-HHS bill contains many pro-life provisions and this particular amendment increases funding from just under $4 million to $15 million for programs that collect life-saving cord blood stem cells. In a little over a year, six cord blood banks across the county, the National Marrow Donor Program, and the Medical College of Wisconsin have worked together to establish the first ever national cord blood collection program. The program serves as an access center for patients and doctors to contract with cord blood banks to create an inventory large enough for the nation. The number of units collected and made available to patients directly depends on Congress appropriating these funds. Six cord banks received contracts in 2006 to collect, store, and provide cord blood units to doctors, patients, and researchers. These banks provide stem cells from umbilical cord blood, for example, providing ethical, non-controversial treatments for thousands of Americans. Stem Cells are the building blocks of our blood and immune systems. They are found throughout the body, specifically in bone marrow, cord blood and peripheral blood. They are particularly powerful because they have the ability to treat, repair and/or replace damaged cells in the body. This exciting area of research holds great potential with reported breakthroughs in Type I diabetes, lung disease and injuries, heart attacks, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and many other diseases. Studies involving cord blood stem cells, in particular, have demonstrated the ability to treat and mitigate the condition of over 70 diseases. (New York Blood Center) Furthermore, there have been approximately 8,000 successful cord blood stem cell transplants world wide in the last two years. (US News and World Report, May, 2007). The Smith/Davis amendment passed by the House on Wednesday will enable the FY 08 authorized amounts to be met, thus providing greater funding for life-saving treatments and expansion of programs that research cord blood transplant therapy. Rep. Schmidt Offers Amendment to Keep Taxpayer Dollars Away from Planned Parenthood Clinics that Cover Up Sexual Abuse July 19, 2007 This week the House considered amendments to the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations bill, including an amendment proposed by Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) addressing the issue of abuse reporting and Title X clinics that were receiving federal funds. Unfortunately the amendment was ruled out of order, and no vote was taken. Despite this outcome, the SBA List applauds Rep. Schmidt's efforts to draw attention to the growing problem of sexual abuse cover-ups at Planned Parenthood clinics. It's unfortunate that someone even has to raise the red flag on this one -- the ignorance of abuse of young girls is appalling, and stopping taxpayer funds from going toward clinics that break reporting laws should be a no-brainer. Labor-HHS Provisions Attempt to Undermine Bush's Veto June 22, 2007 Hoping to undermine the president's veto of the embryonic stem cell research bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee added embryonic stem cell legislation to a must-pass appropriations bill for the Labor and Health and Human Services departments. The provision, proposed by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), allows taxpayer dollars to contribute to research on human embryonic stem cell lines derived before June 15, 2007. This date extends by almost six years the date President Bush implemented in 2001 for federal funding of embryonic research. The provision's language opens about 400 cell lines to federally funded research. Pro-Life Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) opposed the bill in committee after Harkin added the anti-life language. Now the bill heads to the full Senate for consideration. House Reverses Ban on Foreign Aid to Overseas Abortion Providers June 21, 2007 Pro-abortion leadership in the House succeeded in narrowly passing a measure today to supply contraceptive aids to international abortion-promoting organizations, an action previously banned by the pro-life Mexico City Policy. Under the Mexico City Policy, foreign organizations could only receive federal aid if they agreed to not promote or provide abortion as a method of family planning. Pro-Life Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) sponsored an amendment to restore the pro-life Mexico City Policy and keep taxpayer dollars away from organizations like International Planned Parenthood. The amendment failed by a vote of 218-205. Click here to see how your representative voted. President Bush strongly supports the Mexico City Policy and has promised to veto all attempts to alter pro-life measures in foreign aid policy. Bush Vetoes Federal Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research June 20, 2007 President Bush vetoed a stem cell bill for the second time, asking scientists to pursue "ethically responsible" research in their field. The Senate bill he vetoed Wednesday would have allowed federal dollars to support embryonic stem cell research, as well as increased the number of frozen embryos available to scientists for research purposes. Announcing his veto, Bush stated: "If this legislation became law, it would compel American taxpayers for the first time in our history to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. I made it clear to Congress and to the American people that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line." Click here to watch the President's speech. President Bush's executive order encourages scientists to work with the government to pursue other kinds of stem cell research eligible for federal funding - research that does not create, harm or destroy human embryos. President Bush noted: "Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical, and it is not the only option before us." Read the President's letter to Congress and his new Executive Order here [pdf]. Copyright 2005 Susan B. Anthony List, [log in to unmask] North Kent Street, Suite 1070, Arlington, VA 22209 Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn