Posted by
Grampus on Saturday, December 09, 2006 3:24:46 PM
A bill passed Congress Thursday, December 7th and no one seemed to notice. To wit, Shelley Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, introduced legislation aimed at "Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules and providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules, and for other purposes."
Apparently, this bill was extremely bi-partisan…211 Republicans voted for it, none voted against it. 190 Democrats voted against it, none voted for it. The one independent in the House didn't even bother to vote. So, what was the issue that created such divisiveness? It was HR 810.
Basically what this vote said is, we are not going to get a 2/3 majority vote to get something to the floor to be voted on, let's just go ahead and vote it up or down now. ( So we can go home for Christmas. )
HR 810 - Stem Cell Research, that Bush vetoed in 2006.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005''.
An Act
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research.
SEC. 2. HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH.
Part H of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 498C the following:
``SEC. 498D. HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH.
``(a) IN GENERAL.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including any regulation or guidance), the Secretary shall conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells in accordance with this section (regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo).
``(b) ETHICAL REQUIREMENTS.--Human embryonic stem cells shall be eligible for use in any research conducted or supported by the Secretary if the cells meet each of the following:
``(1) The stem cells were derived from human embryos that have been donated from in vitro fertilization clinics, were created for the purposes of fertility treatment, and were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such treatment.
``(2) Prior to the consideration of embryo donation and through consultation with the individuals seeking fertility treatment, it was determined that the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded.
``(3) The individuals seeking fertility treatment donated the embryos with written informed consent and without receiving any financial or other inducements to make the donation.
``(c) GUIDELINES.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of NIH, shall issue final guidelines to carry out this section.
``(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.--The Secretary shall annually prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report describing the activities carried out under this section during the preceding fiscal year, and including a description of H. R. 810--2 whether and to what extent research under subsection (a) has been conducted in accordance with this section.''.
Why would every single Democrat vote against stem cell research the first possible chance they could after the "stem cell election"?
Why isn't ANY media asking them this right now?
Do you still think some people weren't taking advantage of Michael J. Fox?
What about Democrats charging the GOP with conducting a war on science?
What they are actually voting against is allowing the Republicans to get one iota of credit on this issue regardless of whether stem cell research gets advanced or not. After all, this bill was sponsored by a Republican.
This vote was largely symbolic only. However, since it was completely rejected by the Democrats, and totally ignored by the media, the symbolism is lost. When we get responsible balanced reporting then it might mean something. However, if we had responsible reporting in the first place, this vote would never have been proposed.
Just another ‘bait and switch’ tactic by Democrats…they must all have sore leg muscles from all the back pedaling since the elections.
Grampus