Democrats to return to funding for embryonic stem-cell research

Washington D.C., Nov 13, 2006 / 22:00 pm

With a majority in Congress, Democratic leaders have indicated that they will likely propose a bill that would support public funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

Likely future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said such a measure would be voted on during the first 100 business hours of the next congressional session that begins in January, reported LifeNews.com.

President George W. Bush vetoed a similar bill in July. While the House voted 235-193 in favor of overriding the veto, the vote was 65 short of the two-thirds required to override it.

Pelosi admitted that the elections probably did not provide enough votes to override a second veto but she told the Washington Post that Democrats hope to "build public support for a signature."

Rep. Diana DeGette, a leading sponsor of the measure, told the Denver Post that Democrats will resurrect their campaign to lobby Bush to sign the bill.

"It's clear the new Congress is going to be even more favorable to embryonic stem-cell research," Sean Tipton, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, told the Washington Post.  In Tipton’s opinion, "the American people have had the opportunity to go to the ballot box on stem-cell research and...they've said yes to it."

An August Newsweek poll found that 48 percent of Americans favor public funding for embryonic stem-cell research and 40 percent don’t. That number is down from an October 2005 Newsweek poll which indicated a 50-36 percentage split.