House Votes to Expand Stem Cell Research
Jim Swanson June 7th, 2007 - 10:12 pmBy JEFF ZELENY
The New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 7 - The House gave final Congressional approval on Thursday to legislation aimed at easing restrictions on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research, but Democratic leaders in both chambers conceded they were short of the votes needed to override a veto threatened by President Bush.
On a vote of 247 to 176, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill, with more than three dozen Republicans joining a Democratic-led effort to authorize federal support for research using stem cells from spare embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard. The Senate approved the legislation in April.
“Science is a gift of God to all of us and science has taken us to a place that is biblical in its power to cure,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, arguing for the bill’s passage. “And that is the embryonic stem cell research.”
But minutes after the vote, Mr. Bush renewed his pledge to veto the proposal, which he called “a recycled old bill.” It would reprise the first veto of his presidency, which occurred last year when he rejected a similar bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress.
“Recent scientific developments have reinforced my conviction that stem cell science can progress in ethical ways,” Mr. Bush said in a statement from Germany, where he was attending the Group of 8 meeting. “Researchers have been investigating innovative techniques that could allow doctors and scientists to produce stem cells just as versatile as those derived from human embryos, but without harming life.”
The House bill received support from 210 Democrats and 37 Republicans, 35 votes short of what would be needed to override a presidential veto; 16 Democrats joined 160 Republicans in opposing the legislation.
Several Republicans voting against the bill seized upon scientific findings reported Wednesday, in which biologists said they could use cells from ordinary, adult cells of the body, instead of stem cells. Critics of the bill also said taxpayer dollars should not be used for research on cells derived from discarded human embryos, particularly in the wake of such advances.
See how they voted here
