Today’s vote (247-176) sets up a confrontation with President Bush, who last year vetoed legislation to allow for stem cell research. Expanded embryonic stem cell research is supported by a majority of Americans, and California voters have already approved state funded research under Proposition 71 in 2004. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act was also recently approved by the Senate.

“Expanded embryonic stem cell research is about the future,” said Miller. “It is about potentially finding cures for illnesses that devastate the lives of children and adults and cost our society dearly. Standing in the way of this bill is to stand in the way of hope and in the way of technological and scientific advancements. I hope, for the sake of millions of Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and other diseases, that President Bush will sign this bill into law.

“As evidenced by today’s vote, expanding stem cell research is a bipartisan issue that properly puts the interests of American patients ahead of narrow-minded politics,” Miller continued.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would lift federal restrictions on the number of embryonic stem cell lines scientists are able to use for research. Today’s bill is similar to H.R. 3, the stem cell bill that the House passed as part of the first “100 Hours” in January of this year, with an addition made by the Senate that directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research on stem cells not derived from human embryos, called pluripotent stem cells.

The bill would lift restrictions, imposed by President Bush in 2001, which limited federal funding to a small number of embryonic stem cell lines. Most of the stem cell lines authorized for federally-funded research under the President’s policy are no longer useful for research.

This bill also includes strict ethical standards. It authorizes federal research funds only for stem cell lines generated from embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics and also creates an ethical framework that must be followed in conducting this research under the guidance of the National Institutes of Health.

The bill is supported by more than 500 organizations, including the American Medical Association, AARP, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, as well as many faith-based groups.

“It is time that this groundbreaking research is allowed to move forward,” said Miller. “Californians know that, the majority of Americans know that, and the Congress knows that. The only question left is whether President Bush will honor the will of the American people on this life or death issue.”