By M.E. Sprengelmeyer

Rep. Diana DeGette isn't waiting for a new president before trying to overturn restrictions on federally-funded embryonic stem cell research.

DeGette, who has seen President Bush issue two rare vetoes to block her signature cause, kicked off a new legislative effort at a subcommittee hearing on Thursday.

She announced plans for new legislation that would lift the restrictions and also give the National Institutes of Health power to oversee ethical standards.

Meanwhile, she said she might seek congressional action before this November's elections so it forces lawmakers - and their would-be replacements - to take public positions. She said there's widespread public support for expanded research, calling it "a positive wedge issue.

"It's positive because it's not hateful. It's for expansion of hope and research," DeGette said.

Thursday's hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee's health subcommittee was a chance to air recent developments in research and reignite the debate over Bush's August 2001 order limiting funding to embryonic stem cell lines already in existence at the time.

Bush's original decision was a nod to those who equate embryonic research to the destruction of human life.

But nearly seven years later, even after advancements in research involving adult stem cell lines and other non-embryonic sources, critics say Bush's restrictions are hampering progress toward finding cures to conditions like diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord damage.

Elias Zerhouni, director of the NIH, backed DeGette's call for new ethical oversight authority. And he also said it's premature to decide whether research into embryonic or adult-derived stem cell lines hold the most promise for eventual cures into a wide range of diseases.

"I don't know where the breakthroughs are going to come from," Zerhouni said. "And if I don't know, then I don't want to close a door . . . There are ways of doing it ethically. . . ."

Since Bush's executive order, the NIH has invested about $3.7 billion on all types of stem cell research. But only $174 million of that has gone to research into human embryonic stem cells - compared to $1.3 billion on non- embryonic stem cells.

DeGette said she doesn't want to rule out any form of ethical research that could one day lead to cures, including that of her 14-year-old daughter's diabetes.

"Every researcher tells me all of these forms of cell-based research are complimentary, and they all aid future development of cures for patients," she said.

But vocal opponents remain, and they point to progress they say is possible using stem cell lines derived for amniotic fluid, cord blood or other less-controversial sources.

"The federal government should not be funding research that is showing no results and forcing Americans to pay for research that requires the destruction of human embryos - research that offends their moral and ethical sensibilities," Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said.

DeGette and her leading ally, Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., said that even if they can't pass legislation with veto-proof majorities this year, they hope that a new occupant in the White House will quickly issue an order overturning Bush's restrictions.

The two Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, have pledged to sign such an order. Republican Sen. John McCain has voted to overturn the restrictions in the past, but has made no new commitments.