Senators Urge Quick Vote on Stem Cells

Following House passage of H.R. 810 yesterday, senators supporting identical legislation in their chamber spoke out today in favor of scheduling debate and a vote sometime in the very near future.

Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin: "The American people cannot afford to wait any longer for our top scientists to realize the full potential of stem cell research."

Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, "newly bald from chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease, held himself up on Wednesday as Exhibit A for the possible benefits of embryonic stem cell research," says Sci-Tech Today. Specter "called Bush's promise to veto any relaxation of his restrictions on funding stem cell research an affront to millions of people with diseases that might be treated or even cured with federal dollars propelling the science."

Minority Leader Harry Reid called on Frist to schedule debate soon, and called Bush's veto threat "wrong politically, morally and scientifically."

As I've remarked previously, I strongly support passage of the Senate equivalent of H.R. 810, and I have no doubt that it will pass the Senate with wide bipartisan support. It would be a significant error for President Bush to use his first veto on a bill with strong public support (58% approve, 30% disapprove, according to a new CBS News poll: 50% of Republicans approve, while 65% of Democrats do). Might I recommend, again, the highway bill as a much better use of the veto-pen?