Stem cells research, 2005 : hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, special hearing, October 19, 2005, Washington, DC.
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Date:
- 2006
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Stem cells research, 2005 : hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, special hearing, October 19, 2005, Washington, DC. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![I very much regret that I am going to have excuse myself at this point. I turn the gavel over to Senator Cochran. What I would appreciate your doing, each of you, is to write a memo or a letter to the subcommittee as to what you could do if Federal funding were available for your stem cell research. Dr. Gasson is from UCLA where I visited several years ago. Without the particulars at hand, I know UCLA is the beneficiary of very substantial NIH grants. This subcommittee, Senator Harkin, Senator Cochran, and then the full committee has taken the lead in increasing Federal funding from $12 billion to $28 billion. And we are now on the cutting edge. Dr. Wagner, you talked about use of Federal funds. I regret that there are not more Senators available, but this is the third time it will be said. This is a very, very busy place, but your testimony is transcribed. Staff are here and Senators will re- view it. If you would supplement what you have testified to, Dr. Teitelbaum, Dr. Jaenisch, Dr. Wagner, Dr. Gasson, with what the Federal funding could do. We are going to have a vote on this one day soon, without going into all the technicalities. And the evidence that you will present will be very helpful when we fight it out on the Senate floor. Things are quiet here today, but we are going to have a pretty heavy debate on this subject and your participation and your evidence will be very, very helpful in achieving a very, very important goal for medical science. Senator Cochran, let me thank you for taking the gavel. It be- longs to you anyway. Senator COCHRAN [presiding]. Thank you for your patience with our change of command and responsibility. I appreciate so much each of your efforts to be here today, to take time to prepare a presentation for our committee so that we can better understand the challenges and the responsibilities that we have for identifying ways that we can continue to support med- ical research, to take those actions that will help find cures for dis- eases, prevent diseases. So this is all very serious business, and I appreciate very much the fact that you have taken time and de- voted your efforts and energies to this hearing today. Senator Specter, as I said in my opening comments, has been a champion for medical research, and the figures that he cites, the increase in the funding that we have been able to provide or to rec- ommend—we do not get to decide. We recommend to the full com- mittee. The full committee approves and recommends to the Sen- ate, and we have to work out differences between the Senate and the House. But it has been a successful campaign to more than double the amount of money that is available for researchers and those providing treatment in our battle to find cures and to prevent disease, particularly cancer. Let me ask a few questions. I understand, Dr. Teitelbaum, you are at the Washington University School of Medicine and have completed a residency at New York University. Let me ask you. What would you say is the overwhelming opinion of scientists re- garding the need to expand the current stem cell policy? Is there any disagreement within the community? Dr. TEITELBAUM. I think not, Senator. I think that the over- whelming opinion of scientists is to move forward on all fronts, that](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32229392_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
