WASHINGTON — Sen. Arlen Specter on Monday initiated a drive to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, superseding conflicting court decisions that he said are slowing critical work to find cures for crippling diseases.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, speaking on the Senate floor as senators returned from a month-long recess, said his legislation would codify an executive order issued by President Barack Obama last year advancing stem-cell research. Even a temporary suspension of federal funding while the courts debate current funding practices disrupts research projects in such areas as heart disease, sickle-cell anemia, liver failure, muscular dystrophy and other maladies, Specter said.
In the House, Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Mike Castle, R-Del., have introduced similar legislation. It’s unclear whether lawmakers will have the time, or the political will, to undertake the controversial subject in the few weeks remaining before Congress breaks for the fall election campaign.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who has his own legislation promoting embryonic stem- cell research, is holding a hearing on the subject Thursday.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction in which he stated that stem-cell research violated a 1996 law banning the use of taxpayer money to derive stem cells from embryos.
